Man Friday
Encyclopedia
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
novel Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
. Robinson Crusoe names the man, with whom he cannot at first communicate, Friday because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the expression
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
"Man Friday", used to describe a male personal assistant
Personal assistant
A personal assistant or personal aide is someone who assists in daily business or personal tasks. It is common in design to have a PDA, or personal design assistant....
or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal.
Character
Robinson Crusoe spends twenty-eight years 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 discovers that Carib cannibals occasionally use a desolate beach on the island to kill and eat their captives.Crusoe observes one of the Caribs, kept captive and about to be eaten, escape his captors. Crusoe ambushes two pursuers, and the others leave in their canoes without the knowledge of their counterparts' outcome. The rescued captive bows in gratitude to Crusoe, who decides to employ him as a servant. He names him Friday after the weekday upon which the rescue takes place.
Crusoe describes Friday as being a Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, though very unlike the Indians of Brazil and Virginia. His religion involves the worship of a mountain god named Benamuckee, officiated over by high priests called Oowokakee. Friday tolerates cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, and even suggests eating the men Crusoe has killed.
Crusoe teaches Friday the English language and converts him to Christianity. He tells him that cannibalism is wrong. Friday accompanies him in an ambush in which they save Friday's father.
Crusoe returns to England twenty-eight years after being shipwrecked on the island, and four years after rescuing Friday. Friday's father goes with a Spanish castaway to the mainland to retrieve fourteen other Spanish castaways, but Crusoe and Friday depart the island before they return.
Friday accompanies Crusoe home to England, and is his companion in the sequel The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
The title-page of the less known Part II of Robinson Crusoe's further adventures shows this text: THE FARTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE; Being the Second and Last Part OF HIS LIFE,...
, in which Friday is killed in a sea battle.
In Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
's L'École des Robinsons
Godfrey Morgan
Godfrey Morgan: A Californian Mystery , also published as Godfrey Morgan, School for Robinsons, and School for Crusoes, is an adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne first published in 1882. It tells of a young adventurer, Godfrey Morgan, and his deportment instructor, Professor T. Artelett,...
, the castaways rescue an African Negro on their island who says his name is Carefinotu. T. Artelett proposes to call him Mercredi ("Wednesday"), "as it is always done in the islands with Robinsons," but his master Godfrey prefers to keep the original name.
Film and television adaptations
- The 1935 Mickey MouseMickey MouseMickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
cartoon Mickey's Man Friday features Mickey as Crusoe, with Friday and other islanders as humanized monkey characters. - The 1935 Oswald the Lucky RabbitOswald the Lucky RabbitOswald the Lucky Rabbit is an anthropomorphic rabbit and animated cartoon character created by Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney for films distributed by Universal Pictures in the 1920s and 1930s...
cartoon Robinson Crusoe Isle features Oswald applying for a job as Robinson Crusoe's "man Friday." Crusoe's twelve previous Fridays have been eaten by cannibals, making Oswald "Friday the 13th." - In Luis BuñuelLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel Portolés was a Spanish-born filmmaker — later a naturalized citizen of Mexico — who worked in Spain, Mexico, France and the US..-Early years:...
's 1954 film Robinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe (1954 film)Robinson Crusoe , also known as Aventuras de Robinson Crusoe, is a film by director Luis Buñuel, based on the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe....
, Jaime Fernández played Friday alongside Dan O'HerlihyDan O'HerlihyDaniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
as Crusoe. - The 1964 film Robinson Crusoe on MarsRobinson Crusoe on MarsRobinson Crusoe on Mars is a 1964 Techniscope science fiction film retelling of the classic novel by Daniel Defoe. It was directed by Byron Haskin, produced by Aubrey Schenck and starred Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin and Adam West...
recasts the Robinson Crusoe story as a space adventure. Victor LundinVictor LundinVictor Lundin is an American character actor who often bills himself as the first Klingon on the original Star Trek. He is also a singer / songwriter and has two albums to his credit.-Biography:...
played the rescued companion of Crusoe figure Commander Christopher Draper (Paul ManteePaul ManteePaul Mantee is an American film and television actor.Mantee was born Paul Marianetti in San Francisco, California...
), who dubs him "Friday" in reference to the novel. - Man FridayMan Friday (film)Man Friday is a 1975 British/American film. It is adapted from the 1973 play by Adrian Mitchell based on Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe, but reverses the roles, portraying Crusoe as a blunt, stiff Englishman, while the native he calls Man Friday is much more intelligent and empathic...
, a 1975 British film, retold the story from Man Friday's point of view. It starred Richard RoundtreeRichard RoundtreeRichard Roundtree is an American actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa .-Personal life:Born in New Rochelle, New York, Richard Roundtree graduated from...
as Man Friday and Peter O'ToolePeter O'ToolePeter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
as Crusoe. - In the 1981 French TV movie Vendredi ou La Vie Sauvage, Friday was played by Gene Anthony Ray.
- In the 1997 film version of Robinson Crusoe, William TakakuWilliam TakakuWilliam Takaku was a Papua New Guinean film, television and theatre actor. He was also a screenwriter and a former theatre director.-Career:He was for a time director of the National Theatre Company in Papua New Guinea....
played Friday to Pierce BrosnanPierce BrosnanPierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
's Crusoe. - In the 2008 American TV series CrusoeCrusoe (TV series)Crusoe is a television adventure drama based loosely on the novel Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The series' 13 episodes aired on NBC during the first half of the 2008-2009 television season. It follows the adventures of Robinson Crusoe: a man who has been shipwrecked on an island for six years...
, Friday was played by Tongayi ChirisaTongayi ChirisaTongayi Arnold Chirisa is a Zimbabwean actor, experienced in theatre, film, and television. He is also a noted singer.-Acting career:He played the part of "Detective Trevor Davies" in the ever-popular Zimbabwean soapie Studio 263...
.
Idiom
The term Man Friday has become an idiomIdiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
, still in mainstream usage, to describe an especially faithful servant or one's best servant or right-hand man. The female equivalent is Girl Friday. The title of the movie His Girl Friday
His Girl Friday
His Girl Friday is a 1940 American screwball comedy film directed by Howard Hawks, an adaptation by Charles Lederer, Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur of the play The Front Page by Hecht and MacArthur...
alludes to it and may have popularised it.