This document provides an overview and context about the novel Foe by J.M. Coetzee. It discusses that the novel is woven around the plot of Robinson Crusoe and told from the perspective of Susan Barton, a castaway who lands on the same island as Cruso and Friday. The document outlines some of the main characters, themes around storytelling, colonialism and slavery. It also discusses symbols like Friday's tongue and the motif of storytelling construction that are present in the novel.

1. Foe by J.M. Coetzee’s
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● Presented by : Nehalba Gohil
● Class : M.A
● Roll no : 15
● Semester:3
● Enrollment no : 4069206420210009
● Paper no : 203
● Batche year : 2021- 23
● Submitted by : Smt S.B. Gardi Department of English M.K.
Bhavnagar University

3. About Author
● John Maxwell Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South
Africa, on 9 February 1940, the elder of two children.
His mother was a primary school teacher. His father
was trained as an attorney, but practiced as such
only intermittently; during the years 1941–45 he
served with the South African forces in North Africa
and Italy. Though Coetzee’s parents were not of
British descent, the language spoken at home was
English.
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4. ● Coetzee received his primary schooling in Cape Town and in
the nearby town of Worcester. For his secondary education
he attended a school in Cape Town run by a Catholic order,
the Marist Brothers. He matriculated in 1956.
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● Coetzee entered the University of Cape Town in 1957, and in
1960 and 1961 graduated successively with honours degrees
in English and mathematics
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5. His works
● Dusklands
● Disgrace
● Age of Iron
● Waiting for the Barbarians
● Life and Times Michael K
● Slow man
● Dairy of a Bad year
● The Death of Jesus
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6. About Novel
● Foe is a 1986 novel by South African-born Nobel laureate J.
M. Coetzee. Woven around the existing plot 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
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7. Characters
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Cruso
Friday Foe
Susan jr
Jack
Amy
Susan Barton

8. Themes
● Female Experience
● Storytelling
● Primitivism
● Humanitarianism
● Slavery
● Fantasies of
Colonialism
● Language
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9. Symbols , Allegory and Motifs
The Tongue (Symbol):-
The tongue is one of the strongest symbols in the novel,
representing the power of speech, truth, and narrative.
Friday’s lack of a tongue is more than a physical
handicap. The effect of having his tongue removed is
spiritual and psychological, shaping who he is as a
person.
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10. Repressed Female History ( Allegory )
● The broad narrative of the novel, in which an
unknown female castaway survives harrowing
trials, works as an indirect allegory for female
versions of history. It is indirect because it
functions through the meta-scope of the novel,
rather than through the novel’s central narrative.
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11. ● The construction of stories is a recurring motif in the
novel: how they are built, who builds them, and the
decisions that effect their meaning and proceeding
histories. In contrast to Friday who can’t tell his own
story is Foe, the expert author who is known for
hearing confessions and turning them into famous,
sensational tales.
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Storytelling ( motif )

12. Works Cites
● Coetzee's , J.M. "J.M. Coetzee's bibliography ."
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/2003/coetzee/biographical/.
Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.
● Coetzee's , J M . "Foe summary ." https://www.gradesaver.com/foe/study-
guide/summary. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.
● Coetzee's , J.M. "Foe study guide ." https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Foe/.
Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.
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13. “
Thank
you
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