man Friday

This article is about the fictional character. For the film, see Man Friday (film).

Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday by Carl Offterdinger

Man Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe. The name given to him by Robinson Crusoe^[1] has since become an expression used to describe a male personal assistant or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal.

The fictional character is described in the Nuttall Encyclopaedia:

Character

Robinson Crusoe spent twenty-four years alone on an island off the coast of Venezuela with his talking parrot Poll, his pet dog, and a tame goat as his only companions. In his twenty-fourth year he discovered that Carib cannibals occasionally arrived on a desolate beach on the island to kill and eat their captives.^[2]

Crusoe observed one of the Caribs, kept captive and about to be eaten, escaping his captors. When the Carib fled, pursued by two others, Crusoe ambushed them (the cannibals), and the others fled in their canoes. The rescued captive, who was left behind, bowed in gratitude to Crusoe, who decided to employ him as a servant. He named him Friday after the day of the week upon which the rescue took place.

Crusoe describes Friday as being a Native American, though being very unlike the Indians of Brazil and Virginia. His religion involved the worship of a mountain god named Benamuckee, officiated over by high priests called Oowokakee. Friday tolerated cannibalism, and even suggested eating the remains from the ambush.

Crusoe taught Friday the English language and converted him to Christianity. He told him that cannibalism was wrong, and Friday accompanied him in his next ambush on cannibals, in which they saved Friday's father.

Crusoe returned to England twenty-eight years after being shipwrecked on the island, and four years after rescuing Friday. Friday's father went with the Spanish castaway to the mainland to retrieve the other fourteen Spanish castaways, but Crusoe and Friday left the island before they returned.

Friday accompanied Crusoe home to England, and was his companion in the sequel The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, in which Friday is killed in a sea battle against 160 canoes.

In Jules Verne's L'École des Robinsons, the castaways rescue an African Negro on their island who says his name is Carefinotu. Tartelett proposes to call him Mercredi ("Wednesday"), "as it is always done in the islands with Robinsons,"^[3] but his master Godfrey prefers to keep the original name.

Film

In Luis Buñuel's 1954 film Robinson Crusoe, Jaime Fernández played Friday alongside Dan O'Herlihy as Crusoe.

In the 1997 film version of Robinson Crusoe, William Takaku played Friday alongside Pierce Brosnan as Crusoe.^[4]

The 1964 film Robinson Crusoe on Mars retold the Robinson Crusoe story as a space adventure. Victor Lundin played the native companion of Crusoe figure Commander Christopher Draper (Paul Mantee), who dubs him 'Friday' in reference to the novel.

Man Friday, a 1975 British film, retold the story from Man Friday's point of view. It starred Richard Roundtree as Man Friday and Peter O'Toole as Crusoe.

In the 2008 American TV series Crusoe, Friday is played by Tongayi Chirisa.

Idiom

The term Man Friday has become an idiom, still in mainstream usage, to describe an especially faithful servant, or even one's best servant or right-hand man. The female equivalents are Woman Friday and Girl Friday. In the United States, in particular, the latter term is regarded as outdated, and patronising when used to refer to an adult; however Girl Friday is still a common term in the UK. The title of the movie His Girl Friday alludes to it and may have popularised it.

See also

• Robinson Crusoe
• Girl Friday (idiom)

One can say that Robinson Crusoe was the only man in the world to have his work done by Friday!

References

1. ^ p.244, first edition
2. ^ The portrayal of Caribs as cannibals is still controversial; as recently as 2006, complaints were made about the portrayal of Caribs in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
3. ^ L'École des Robinsons, chapter 18, Jules Verne.
4. ^ William Takaku on IMDB