Or, What opinion have you formed of Crusoe’s man, Friday, from Defoe’s novel?

Answer: Friday is the name that Crusoe gives to a savage whose life he has saved from the clutches of cannibals. The savage himself takes the initiative in attempting to escape from the cannibals who were holding him as a prisoner and who had brought him to Crusoe’s island in order to feast upon his flesh. But he would have doubtless been overtaken and again seized by the cannibals who gave him a chase if Crusoe had not at this critical juncture intervened and fired at the two pursuers, killing one and wounding the other. Finding himself save, the savage now kneels before Crusoe in acknowledgment of the favor which Crusoe had done to him in rescuing him from his captors. From this time onwards, Friday becomes a devoted slave of Crusoe’s.

Friday is described as “a comely handsome fellow, perfectly well made; with straight strong limbs, not too large; tall and well shaped, and about twenty-six years of age”. He has something very manly in his face, and yet he has all the sweetness and softness of a European in his countenance too, especially when he smiles. He has long black hair, a very high and large forehead, and vivacious and sparkling eyes. His face is round and plump; his nose small; his lips thin, and his teeth well set and white as ivory.

Friday is instructed by Crusoe in the various skills necessary to perform the man tasks which Crusoe had himself been accomplishing hitherto. Crusoe feels pleased with the man because he is very intelligent and speedily learns whatever he is taught, and because he makes all possible signs of subjection, servitude, and submission to Crusoe whom he now calls master. He is soon rid of his habit of eating human flesh because Crusoe finds, to his dismay, that this savage is himself a cannibal and because Crusoe explains to him how abhorrent it is to eat human flesh. Friday soon begins to relish the meat of goats, turtles, pigeons, etc. and forgets all his former inhuman and barbaric ways. Friday also learns how to clothe himself, having been stark naked when he fell into Crusoe’s hands. Crusoe now no longer distrusts Friday because, as Crusoe says: “Never man had a more faithful, loving, sincere servant, than Friday was to me; without passions, sullenness, or designs.” Friday feels emotionally bound to Crusoe like a child to his father. And, as Crusoe no longer has any suspicions with regards to Friday, he also teaches Friday how to load a gun and fire it at an intended target. Friday becomes so attached to Crusoe that he would not now like even to go back to his own people. He tells Crusoe that he would go back to his own nation only if Crusoe goes with him. By questioning Friday, Crusoe learns a lot about the habits and customs of the community to which Friday belongs. Crusoe also now begins to like Friday and takes pleasure in talking to him. And so Crusoe writes: “He began really to love the creature, and on his side, I believe. loved me more than it was possible for him ever to love anything before.”

Friday is a heathen but he is in due course converted to Christianity through Crusoe’s regular instruction. During these religious sessions, Crusoe tells Friday all about the Christian beliefs regarding God, the Devil, and Christ. Friday shows a lot of interest in these religious lessons and asks his preceptor numerous questions which shows his intelligence. As a result of Crusoe’s painstaking efforts, Friday ultimately becomes an earnest believer in the Christian faith and learns all about the redemption of mankind by Christ the Saviour, and about the need for repentance on the part of human beings. Crusoe now goes so far as to say: “The savage (Friday) was now a good Christian, much better than I”. Crusoe now has the pleasure of thinking that he had not only saved Friday’s life but Friday’s soul also.

Friday proves his usefulness to Crusoe in many ways. Crusoe now begins to rust him completely, believing him to be an “honest grateful creature” and “a religious Christian”. Friday helps Crusoe in building a boat. In fact, Crusoe teaches Friday how to build a boat and how to fit it with a rudder and a sail. Friday helps Crusoe in the fight against a group of cannibals who have come to Crusoe’s island for one of their feasts. In this encounter, Crusoe saves the lives of two men – a Spaniard and a savage who turns out to be Friday’s own father. Here we are much impressed by Friday’s filial affection. Friday kisses his father, embraces him, hugs him, cries, laughs, jumps about, dances, sings, and then cries again. Indeed, he is immensely pleased with his father’s life having been saved by Crusoe from the cannibals just as his own life had been saved. He now feels much anxiety about his father’s condition and tries his utmost to nurse him back to health from the miserable state in which he is. He goes running to get some fresh water for his father; and in this connection Crusoe tells us that Friday “was the swiftest fellow of his foot that ever I saw” and again that “he went like the wind; for sure never man or horse ran like him”. Subsequently, Friday assists Crusoe in the battle against the mutinous crew of the English ship. Friday is now * inseparable from Crusoe, and it is Friday’s devotion to his master that has made Friday a memorable figure in English literature and a byword for loyalty, fidelity, and constancy.

Friday is a man with a strong sense of humor. In the course of the journey across the mountains, when Crusoe and the other travelers have begun to feel upset by the appearance of wolves and bears in their way, Friday shows his spirit of jollity by shouting to Crusoe not to fire but to allow him to have some with a bear and give him an opportunity to make the others laugh. He then proceeds to play some pranks with the bear, thus diverting himself and the others.

Friday is by no means indispensable to the plot of his novel. He certainly enriches the plot by the assistance lies in the kind of man he is. Physically robust and strong he is irreproachable so far as his conduct is concerned. He is a symbol of the “noble savage” who possesses some of the basic virtues of human nature: he is industrious; he is honest; he is highly reliable; he is grateful; he is a devoted friend and servant, and a loving son. His presence in the story, therefore, adds to the variety of characterization in it. This novel offers a very small number of characters, but among the few characters whom we meet here, leaving aside Crusoe himself, Friday is the most vividly drawn. He proves useful to Crusoe not only in a physical sense, by lightening Crusoe’s burden of work but also in a spiritual sense. As Crusoe himself says, by providing religious instruction to Friday in Christianity and by having to answer the many questions Friday asks in this context, Crusoe is enabled to consolidate his own religious faith.