Thinking Activity :- Foe by J.M.Coetzee

Hello Readers,

 

This blog is a part of my classroom thinking activity and this activity given by Yesha Mam. In this blog , I have tried to discuss some question and answer on the novel "Foe ".

        First of all talk about the novel , " Foe " by J.M.Coetzee.

About Novel :

Foe is a 1986 novel by South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee. Foe novel is a retelling story of Robinson Crusoe.Foe is written from the perspective of Susan Barton, a castaway who landed on the same island inhabited by "Cruso" and Friday as their adventures were already underway. Like Robinson Crusoe, it is a frame story, unfolded as Barton's narrative while in England attempting to convince the writer Daniel Foe to help transform her tale into popular fiction. Focused primarily on themes of language and power, the novel was the subject of criticism in South Africa, where it was regarded as politically irrelevant on its release. Coetzee revisited the composition of Robinson Crusoe in 2003 in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.This novel devied in four parts . And every parts has a different - different protagonist. It is a famous postcolonial novel and very interesting story .

      Let's discuss some question- answer :

 1. How would you differentiate the character of Cruso and Crusoe?

In Daniel Defoe’s novel, Robinson Crusoe, the novel portrayed as a foundational text to early fictional writings and introduced writers as well as readers to having a narrative in an island setting. Within Defoe’s novel, one is able to get a glimpse of the stereotypical gender roles from the 17thcentury because patriarchy reigned supreme. Women were property while men were authoritarians. 

The novel is shown through the eyes of a middle-aged white male during colonization. Crusoe “owns” the islands and instructs those living there just as if he were the “governor” or political leader-just as any British colony would be governed. By this, the reader is able to see through the eyes of Robinson Crusoe about the issues of not only gender but with race and independence.

 AlthoughRobinson Crusoewas written in the early 1700’s, a more recent novel by J.M. Coetzee called Foewas an artistic piece that imitated Defoe’s well-known work. Even though the two novels share many similar aspects, Coetzee framed his work to provide an updated perspective of the story Defoe had composed by adding in the presence of a woman figure, incorporating a new setting, and more modernistic viewpoint.

2.Friday’s characteristics and persona in Foe and in Robinson Crusoe.

Large  difference between the roles of the two Friday’s in the novels. One of these is the difference in importance to the plot and the narrator themselves. Coetzee’s Friday is the first character that Susan Barton meets when she is stranded on the island. He is quickly transformed from “a dull fellow” to an object of fascination when she discovers his mutilation. 

However Friday in Defoe’s novel is not as fascinating to the narrator and therefor does not become more interesting to the reader than Crusoe in the narration. This is not to say that the character of Friday is not important to the development of plot and central themes in Robinson Crusoe; as he is a vehicle which allows Defoe to present a view of a colored man than would, at this point in history, be impossible to express, an idea that I expand upon later in my essay.

Both Friday’s lack and acquisition of speech in the novels is very important. In Robinson Crusoe Friday is described as a very fast learner and a good student . His character is used as a vehicle for important discussions and information on religious and moral issues; which adds a different type of narration to the novel.

5. Which novel is convincing and has poetic justice? (or is there poetic justice? – Has the writer achieved what it wished for? – Has Friday got the justice? )

        If we think through the character of Friday in both novels we can say that the novel "Foe" has a poetic justice rather than "Robinson Crusoe". In the whole novel Susan wanted to make Friday free and to teach him with his permission. She wants Friday to learn everything and then he can live his life with his rules. Whole novel focuses on the character of Friday. So when we look at the poetic justice this novel "Foe" has that justice. Even he didn't Speak in the novel. But the overall story of the novel is Friday. 

6 . Who is the Protagonist? (Foe – Susan – Friday – Unnamed narrator)

As we see in the novel, we have different protagonists throughout the novel. 

* First we see Denial Defoe is the first protagonist , Because it's a prequel to that novel. So it is very important to study them first. 

 *Second protagonist is Susan Barton. She tells us the story through the use of letters. 

* Third protagonist is Mr Foe, because he tells the story. Also he wrote a story on the voyages of Susan, Cruso and Friday. So he is the third narrator of the novel

 

* Fourth protagonist is an unnamed person. Who observes everything and tells us what is happening. So the name is not given here of that narrator. 

* The last and fifth protagonist of the novel is J. M. Coetzee. Because he wrote everything and he described all the situations.

Thank you ...