Both the verbal and non-verbal voice play a huge role in making us who we are by establishing our character, our personality and allowing us to express our thoughts to those around us. The voice is such an important part of our person that without it our very being would be vulnerable and adapt to the needs and desires of others. JM Coetzee's Foe and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe tell two contrasting stories about the life of a wild servant named Friday. Foe's Friday is unable to speak due to a horrific mutilation to his mouth. Defoe's Friday is able to speak and is taught to understand and speak the English language. No matter which version you believe, it is impossible to know which author is telling the true story. Although Friday's past will forever remain in the shadows, Coetzee's goal in his novel is to criticize the flaws of Defoe's Friday by providing his most realistic interpretation of the character to show the reader the true fictional nature of the genre of shipwrecked. can be considered a post-colonial critique of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, the novels share very few similarities between the two characters in Friday: Friday is a “cannibal” and is the slave in the master-slave relationship he has with Robinson Cruso(e). But while there are only two significant similarities, the differences between the two Fridays are such that they seem like two completely separate individuals. Everything from their physical appearance to their behavior and interactions with other characters is unique to each Friday. When Friday is first observed and described, it is plainly obvious that one was intentionally intended to contrast with the other. In Defoe's novel, Friday was described as “a… paper medium… involved in a master-slave relationship, but that is the only similarity. The novel Robinson Crusoe is an idealized castaway story created to captivate the minds of boys and teach them what it takes to be a man. Coetzee's Foe is a criticism of Defoe's novel and of the castaway genre in general. Throughout his novel Coetzee reinforces his thesis that the story of the castaway is a myth because no one will ever truly know what happens unless they are there to witness the unfolding events for themselves. For this reason Coetzee accuses Defoe of distorting the truth to make the story more enjoyable for his audience. And as a result, Friday becomes a victim of alterations to fit a role. Friday becomes a victim of the castaway genre. Works Cited Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. 1719. Ed. Evan R. Davis. Peterborough: Broadview, 2010. Print.