J. M. Coetzee’s Foe ThAct

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Comparative and Critical Analysis of Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and J. M. Coetzee’s Foe

Introduction

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) is one of the earliest English novels, often considered a story of adventure, survival, and self-reliance. It reflects the spirit of European colonialism and individualism of the eighteenth century. In contrast, J. M. Coetzee’s Foe (1986) is a postmodern and postcolonial rewriting of Robinson Crusoe. Coetzee revisits Defoe’s tale to question issues of voice, power, gender, race, and colonialism. Through this rewriting, Coetzee transforms Defoe’s imperial narrative into a text of resistance and silence.

This blog explores the key similarities and differences between Robinson Crusoe and Foe, highlighting how Coetzee critically reinterprets Defoe’s story from a modern, postcolonial, and feminist perspective.

Defoe’s Colonial and Religious Vision

In Robinson Crusoe, Defoe presents the story of a man shipwrecked on a deserted island who learns to survive using reason, labor, and faith. Crusoe’s experience represents the triumph of the European man over nature. His mastery over the island and over Friday, the native whom he “saves” and makes his servant, symbolizes European colonial power. Crusoe calls himself the “king” of the island, reflecting a Eurocentric belief that the white man has a right to rule over others.

Religion also plays a strong role in Defoe’s narrative. Crusoe reads the Bible and sees his survival as proof of God’s grace. The novel combines Christianity and capitalism—faith and work—to show the making of a self-sufficient man. Crusoe’s island becomes a miniature version of a European colony where he imposes order and civilization.

Coetzee’s Postcolonial and Feminist Response

J. M. Coetzee’s Foe retells the story of Robinson Crusoe from a new point of view. The protagonist is Susan Barton, a woman who lands on Crusoe’s island and later tries to write about her experiences with Crusoe and Friday. Coetzee gives voice to someone completely absent in Defoe’s original story—a woman. This change immediately shifts the focus from adventure to authorship, from power to representation.

In Foe, Coetzee questions who has the right to tell stories. Susan wants to tell her own story but must depend on the writer Foe (a fictional version of Defoe) to shape it. Through this, Coetzee exposes how women and colonized subjects are often silenced by male and Western authors.

Friday’s silence is another key symbol in Foe. His tongue is cut off, and he cannot speak, representing the historical silencing of the colonized. Unlike Defoe’s Crusoe, who teaches Friday to speak and serve, Coetzee’s Friday remains voiceless. Susan tries to understand him, but his silence becomes a powerful form of resistance. Coetzee refuses to “give” him a voice artificially, reminding readers that the colonized experience cannot be fully expressed through the colonizer’s language.

Rewriting and Metafiction

Foe is not just a story but also a novel about storytelling itself. It is metafictional—it talks about how stories are made, written, and shaped by power. While Robinson Crusoe presents a smooth and confident narrative, Foe disrupts that certainty. It asks difficult questions:

Who writes history?

Whose voice is missing?

Can silence itself be meaningful?

Coetzee rewrites Defoe’s text to expose how fiction can hide as much as it reveals. In Defoe’s version, Friday becomes civilized; in Coetzee’s version, he remains mysterious. The rewriting becomes an act of deconstruction—breaking apart the colonial logic of the original text.

Themes of Power, Language, and Identity

In Robinson Crusoe, language is a tool of control. Crusoe names everything on the island and teaches Friday to speak English, symbolizing linguistic domination. Naming becomes a way of possession. Crusoe’s identity depends on controlling his environment and shaping it in his own image.

In Foe, language is shown as fragile and limited. Susan struggles to write her story because she depends on Foe to publish it. Friday’s silence challenges the power of words. Coetzee suggests that language cannot always represent truth, especially the truth of those who have been colonized or silenced.

Both novels explore identity, but in different ways. Crusoe’s identity grows through mastery and isolation; Susan’s identity is uncertain and shaped by her struggle to be heard. Coetzee, therefore, turns Defoe’s confident “I” into a questioning, fragmented voice.

Colonialism and Resistance

Defoe’s novel celebrates the colonial dream: the European man conquering new lands and spreading “civilization.” Coetzee’s Foe turns that dream into a critique. By introducing a woman narrator and a mute African, Coetzee questions the violence behind colonial expansion. The island in Foe is not a space of mastery but a space of loss and silence.

Through Susan and Friday, Coetzee presents resistance in two forms—Susan resists the male author’s control, and Friday resists through silence. This reinterpretation transforms the island from a place of conquest into a place of questioning.

The Role of the Author

Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe is written as if Crusoe himself is telling his story. It appears authentic and complete. Coetzee, however, complicates this idea. In Foe, the author (Foe) becomes a manipulative figure who edits and shapes Susan’s story to suit popular taste. Coetzee exposes how authors can distort reality for literary fame. This adds a postmodern layer, where truth becomes uncertain and storytelling itself becomes political.

Modern Relevance and Critical View

Coetzee’s Foe speaks to modern readers living in a world still marked by colonial histories and unequal voices. By rewriting Robinson Crusoe, Coetzee invites readers to rethink what “truth” and “authorship” mean. The novel challenges the idea that Western literature is neutral or universal. Instead, it shows that every story has a power structure behind it.

Defoe’s novel remains important as a record of its time—it shows the rise of capitalism, exploration, and the English novel form. But Coetzee’s Foe asks readers to look beneath that history, to hear the silenced voices that Defoe’s narrative ignored.

Conclusion

Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and J. M. Coetzee’s Foe stand on opposite sides of literary history. Defoe celebrates the beginnings of empire and individualism; Coetzee deconstructs them. Through Susan Barton and Friday, Foe gives space to the forgotten and the silenced, turning Defoe’s confident tale of survival into a haunting meditation on power, silence, and authorship.