Man Friday

Here I am, again.. offering my free wisdom of literary vision to dear googlers :-) This time it’s an analysis of the Character of "Friday" from "Robinson Crusoe", the novel. I just wrote it! lol I know it’s full of flaws but there must be something you’ll benefit from, dear student of English\googler 24\7 :-P

I wrote it as a neutral reader. Nothing else.
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Analysis of the Character of Friday

“Friday” in Robinson Crusoe is the most significant character that accompanies the main character. The appearance of Friday in the novel marks the beginning of the crucial changes in the plot either in the exterior actions or in the interior conflicts that lay underneath the innocent surface.

Friday represents “the other” that shouldn’t be judged and that should be giving the benefit of whatever doubt. He stands for humanity in its widest definitions. Ironically, he literally “ate” his fellow man. The cannibals are the people to whom he belongs. However, eating themselves was merely out of absolute civilizational lagging. Therefore, it did not stop Friday from learning meanings of life; simply because he is a human after all.

Bearing in mind that he was an uncivilized savage cannibal; Friday is portrayed as a true human; a human more than Crusoe sometimes. Friday shows more affection for meeting his father than what Crusoe would do. Friday asked Crusoe to kill him instead of leaving him in the island; something Crusoe will never ask for. These claims can be indicated by Crusoe’s inconsiderate intention in leaving Friday without any offer of helping him getting out of the island or any consideration of that possibility despite the plenteous history they both shared once.

Crusoe himself describes Friday’s reaction on that incident by saying:

“He answered not one word, but looked very grave and sad: I asked him what was the matter with him? He asked me again thus; Why you angry mad with Friday, what me done? I told him I was not angry with him at all. No angry! No angry! says he, repeating the words several times, Why sending Friday home away to my nation? Why (says I) Friday did you not say you wished you were there? Yes, yes , says he, wish both there, no wish Friday there, no master there”

Moreover, Friday justifies Crusoe’s importance by saying:

“You teach wild mans be good sober tame mans ; you teach them know God, pray God, and live new life”

The character of Friday is deep in spite of his justified naivety. Friday’s gestures are insightful in spite of his poor English. Defoe managed to create a piece of art out of the use of opposite-yet-not-contradicted features that are weaving the fabric of Friday’s character. He is the grateful uncivilized ex-cannibal slave that teaches his advanced fellow master the meanings of true appreciation and unconditioned love.

The concept of religion is stable in Friday’s mind. Because of his lack of worldly interactions, he remains naturally pure. Crusoe, on the other hand, appears to be Christian by habit; with the influence of materialism. Therefore, Crusoe lacks the “honest passion” of Friday, the new Christian, who is eager to know about Christianity more than the oxymoronic “Christian colonizer”. Friday understood the essence of Christianity regarding love and forgiveness. Therefore, he managed to lead the typical slave-master relationship to an absurd level of intimacy with a sense of a true friendship.

The irony lays in the fact that when Crusoe met Friday the first time, he was about to be sacrificed with by his own people. Crusoe helped him to be born again; figuratively speaking as well as Christianitily. Crusoe granted him salvation. On the other hand, Friday serves as a crucial element in Crusoe’s “sane success”. Despite the fact that Crusoe enslaved Friday, Friday managed to bring the good out of Crusoe. Friday appears later on to be not only the slave of his master, but also the living heart of his numbed consciousness at times. A typical example of these awakening moments of wisdom is when Friday said: “O Master, you see English mans eat prisoners as well as savage mans” to which Crusoe replied by “Friday, I am afraid they will murder them indeed, but you may sure they will not eat them”

As if the corpses would mind..

Aisha.