Finale Foes

Foe
By: J.M Coetzee


"There's always a wait for the grand finale, the kick, the punch line, the end." -Me

Coetzee does just this with such an extensive end to his work FOE. The
storyline entails a flow of events, characters, and situations that one can grasp easily. There is Susan Barton, one of the main characters, who is searching for her daughter and meets Robinson Crusoe and Friday (his servant)along the way. Robinson dies leaving Susan and Friday on a silent journey together. The simplicity is efficient however, not the kick/punch line for FOE. Reading the end of FOE may lead a mind to go haywire with questions, multiple conclusions,and interpretations. This is all seen in the last chapter of FOE.

WHO IS SPEAKING????? WHOOOOOO???????
This is initially the question asked when trying to conclude FOE.
There is story within story, people within people.
Foe vs. Susan, or is it Friday (who doesn't speak).There are
so many ways to take the end as the quest for the narrator begins
in order to conclude a work.

Just Like COETZEE leaves the reader in a deep thought quest in reference to the end.
I leave you for now in this BLOG of FOE's ending for just a minute. (Just so that my blog too has the same effect of question and chaos just like FOE--as my comments haven't reached the conclusion of FOE).

Uniting Freedom = Different Methods

Quote(s) from GOD’s BITs of WOOD
By:Ousmane Sembene







Thies The Apprentices

“They even pushed their luck so far as to attack the police station. Some of the older people did not approve of this latest manifestation of the ‘crew’s’ activities, and there were even parents who forbade their sons to go out on the expeditions, with the result that General Magette’s army was reduced to seven soldiers. Others, however, could no help thinking that every window that broke, every light that went out, helped to establish a kind of balance: They were no longer alone in carrying the burden of the strike,” (161).


The struggle for the parents, families, communities, and Africans as a whole, also included the children. Again there is an emphasis on women by Sembene as seen in other works emphasizing their push to freedom, power (in society), and self reliance (independence). However, the sons and daughters also did their part to enforce the strike as a whole by not allowing peace and rest during the imposition of colonization. The injustices dealing with low wages, racism, and culture disruptions affected everyone (sons & daughters) challenging the identities and strength of Africans (specifically West Africa). In the quote above the specifics includes a different method of fighting back for justice. The method entailed slingshots aiming for cars, windows, shops, etc of the European “invaders,” that brought about struggle and oppression in a foreign land.



There was an opposition on behalf of some parents regarding the night activities taken over by their sons and daughters. “Others, however, could not help thinking that every window that broke, every light that went out, helped establish a kind of balance,“ (161). However, there were still those other parents/people that apparently did not oppose such actions as they ultimately meant unionization in/and fighting back during the strike. There was an even greater emphasis after the boys were shot by a white man. The balance felt was the support of unionization of families (specifically women and children) as a whole in encountering different ways of fighting back during the strike. The burden of the strike involved sons and daughters that were also affected by the low wages, racism, and cultural disruptions (tradition vs. colonization).



“As for the Europeans, the feeling of constraint and uneasiness they had known for weeks he gave place to panic. The patrols on the streets were reinforced, but, in spite of this, fear was an unwelcome guest in every house in the quarter. It was not so much the stones or the little balls of lead themselves as the thought of those black bodies slipping through the shadows that transformed every home into a fortress as soon as darkness came. Native servants were sent home, and men and women went to bed with weapons at their sides. At the slightest sound, nervous fingers reached out for the trigger of a pistol or the stock of the rifle,” (161).



The methods of fighting back on behalf of sons and daughters weren’t just merely slingshots and balls of lead. The impact was greater in the overall picture as there was a call for unity on behalf of the strikers and their families in their struggle against European business owners (as well as any other racist aspects). The strike called for unity as the setbacks were limiting social, cultural, and economical life for Africans everywhere. The different places mentioned in the book take place in West Africa (French Africa), however, the bigger message is for Africans as a whole, all over Africa in unity and independence in freeing themselves of forced colonization. The nightly activities of “little lead balls,” made clear to the Europeans the unfairness of their injustice by also experiencing sleepless nights.