Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Friday; or, the Other Island
References
Britannica AI Icon

Friday; or, the Other Island

novel by Tournier
Also known as: “Vendredi; ou, les limbes du Pacifique”
Written by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last updated

Quick Summary

Michel Tournier's novel, Friday; or, the Other Island, is a revisionist take on Daniel Defoe's classic Robinson Crusoe. In Tournier's version, Crusoe is portrayed as a colonialist who attempts to impose his worldview on Friday, but ultimately fails. The novel explores themes of order versus chaos, with Crusoe representing an obsessive need to control and structure life. This contrasts with Defoe's original narrative, where Crusoe is the sole survivor of a shipwreck and must rely on his ingenuity to survive, eventually befriending and "civilizing" Friday. Tournier's work challenges conventional assumptions and uses mythology and older stories in a subversive manner.123

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
3 Britannica Sources
  1. Robinson Crusoe
  2. Michel Tournier
  3. Robinson Crusoe

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.