Confronting Authority By Susan Maher Summary

n Susan Maher’s article “Confronting Authority: J.M. Coetzee’s Foe and the Remaking of Robinson Crusoe,” she argues that Coetzee’s Foe opposes Defoe’s hero, Robinson Crusoe, by creating his own Heroine, Susan Barton. Through Barton’s story, Coetzee attempts to recreate DeFoe’s novel and tells the “Real” story of Robinson Crusoe (he is referred to as Cruso in Foe). Foe contains many differences from Robinson Crusoe, the most evident difference is the portrayal of the original story’s protagonist, Cruso(e); Coetzee turns DeFoe’s hero, his antagonist who seems to overcome all challenges thrown his way, into a character who is lazy, rude, and no where near as determined as the original. Coetzee’s Foe is a critique of the original story and Coetzee’s

Crusoe’s innovative persistence allowed him to live moderately comfortable on the island. In contrast, Coetzee’s Cruso isn’t as advantageous. Cruso doesn’t save anything from the wreck besides a knife, and his equipment was made of fishbone, stones, and wood and was more primitive: What had survived the salt and seaworm will not be worth saving. We have a roof over our heads, made without saw or axe. We sleep, we eat, we live. We have no need for tools.” (Coetzee 32.) Another difference between Crusoe and Crusoe was Crusoe’s attention to detail and habit of recording everything. Crusoe was very observant and wrote everything that happened to him on the island in his journal; details about his diet, his supplies, his activities for the day, whereas Cruso had no desire to record or document his time on the island. Despite his inability to develop a deep emotional connection with people, (like his lack of regard towards his parents or his absence of romantic feelings towards his wife) Crusoe was a social creature and missed interacting with people while stranded on the island. In contrast to Crusoe, who trains a parrot to talk to him,

Coetzee’s construct of the castaway’s character negates Defoe’s construct of Crusoe as man being the master of all nature. Not only is Cruso indifferent to his environment, he is indifferent to his island companions as well. Crusoe’s relationship to Friday was a master and servant relationship, but Crusoe also tried to help “civilize” Friday: he tried to teach him about Christianity, he tries to teach Friday new languages. He wasn’t teaching Friday only to have him as a servant, but to have a companion on the island as well. Cruso, on the other hand, taught Friday in the order to make him more useful as a slave. Although Cruso didn’t encounter anyone else on the island (unlike Crusoe who went out of his way to save Friday, and the Spanish prisoners), if he did he wouldn’t have been able to support them like Crusoe did, not only because he didn’t have the proper equipment or sufficient supplies, but because his character lacked compassion to help