Foe

At the beginning of Foe, Susan finds herself on a remote island. The island is relatively hostile, far from a tropical paradise. The sharp thorns immediately pierce her foot, and the seaweed that coats the jagged rocks is so pungent that it stings her nostrils. Furthermore, one side of the island is populated by aggressive apes. The hostility of the island is an important aspect of the novel’s attempt to reexamine traditional castaway tales. Unlike the trope of a tropical paradise with sun and sand, the island portrayed in Foe is a brutal place where life is hard. The constant wind howls in Susan’s ears, and she is in danger whenever she strays too far from Cruso’s camp. This brutal environment makes her dependent on Cruso; he and Friday have forged some kind of existence on the remote island, making what they can of their desperate situation. The reality of life of the island is a symbolic illustration of the isolation and suffering endured by these two men, which Susan witnesses firsthand. The island is an extension of Cruso’s psyche: cut off from the world, hostile to outsiders, and haunted by vicious beasts that he has pushed as far away as possible.