Friday is one of the main characters of

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

's 1719 novel ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'' and its sequel ''

The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe ''The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'' (now more commonly rendered as ''The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'') is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719. Just as in its significantly more popular predecessor, ''Robinson C ...

''. Robinson Crusoe names the man Friday, with whom he cannot at first communicate, because they first meet on that day. The character is the source of the

expression Expression may refer to: Linguistics * Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence * Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning * Idiom, a type of fixed expression * Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, o ...

"Man Friday", used to describe a male

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal. Current usage also includes "Girl Friday". It is possible that a

Miskito Miskito may refer to: * Miskito people, ethnic group in Honduras and Nicaragua ** Miskito Sambu, branch of Miskito people with African admixture ** Tawira Miskito, branch of Miskito people of largely indigenous origin * Miskito language, original la ...

pirate by the name of

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

became the inspiration for the character ''Friday''.

Character

Robinson Crusoe spends twenty-eight years on an island off the coast of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

with his talking parrot Poll, his pet dog, and a tame goat as his only companions. In his twenty-fifth year, he discovers that Carib cannibals occasionally use a desolate beach on the island to kill and eat their captives. Crusoe helps 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 knowing what happened to their companions. The escaped 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, though very unlike the Indians of Brazil and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. His religion involves the worship of a mountain god named Benamuckee, officiated over by high priests called Oowokakee. Crusoe learned a few of his native words that have been found in a Spanish-Térraba (or Teribe) dictionary, so Friday may have belonged to that tribe, also called the Naso people. Friday is

cannibalistic Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species In biology, a species is the basic ...

as well and suggests eating the men Crusoe has killed. Crusoe teaches Friday the English language and converts him to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. He convinces 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 that 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 ''

'', in which Friday is killed in a sea battle. In

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

's '' L'École des Robinsons'' (1882), the castaways rescue an African man 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," L'École des Robinsons, chapter 18,

. but his master Godfrey prefers to keep the original name.

Film and television adaptations

*The 1935

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

cartoon ''Mickey's Man Friday'' features

Mickey Mickey is a given name and nickname, almost always masculine and often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael (given name), Michael, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men ...

as Crusoe, with Friday and other islanders as humanized monkey characters. *The 1935

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (also known as Oswald the Rabbit or Oswald Rabbit) is a cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 19 ...

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." *The 1946

Popeye the Sailor Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.The Island Fling This is a list of the 122 cartoons of the ''Popeye the Sailor'' film series produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios (later known as Paramount Cartoon Studios) from 1942 to 1957, with 14 in black and white and 108 in color. These cartoo ...

'' features

Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Blut ...

as Crusoe, with Friday, as well as Saturday, Sunday and Monday at the end, as humanized monkey characters. *In

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...

's 1954 film ''

'', Jaime Fernández played Friday alongside

Dan O'Herlihy Daniel Peter O'Herlihy (May 1, 1919 – February 17, 2005) was an Irish actor of film, television, and radio. With a distinguished appearance and rich, resonant speaking voice, O'Herlihy's best known-roles included his Oscar-nominated portraya ...

as Crusoe. *In the 1990s animated series ''

Robinson Sucroe ''Robinson Sucroe'' (also known as ''Robinson Sucroë'' in French) is an animated series created by France Animation in France and Cinar (now known as WildBrain) in Canada. In 2009, it was found to have infringed Claude Robinson's work ''Les a ...

'', a parody of Robinson Crusoe, the island Sucroe lands on is heavily populated by friendly natives, all of whom are named after days of the week and times of day (e.g. "Tuesday Dawn") as a reference to Friday. *The 1964 film ''

Robinson Crusoe on Mars ''Robinson Crusoe on Mars'' is a 1964 American science fiction film directed by Byron Haskin and produced by Aubrey Schenck that stars Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, and Adam West. It is a science fiction retelling of the classic 1719 novel ''Robins ...

'' recasts the Robinson Crusoe story as a space adventure.

Victor Lundin Victor Lundin (December 8, 1929 – July 2, 2013) was an American character actor who is best remembered as appearing in the 1964 science fiction film '' Robinson Crusoe on Mars'' as the character Friday and for having later portrayed the first K ...

played the rescued companion of Crusoe figure Commander Christopher Draper (

Paul Mantee Paul Mantee (born Paul Marianetti; January 9, 1931 – November 7, 2013) was an American film and television actor. Biography Mantee was born Paul Marianetti in San Francisco, California. A journalism major at San Mateo Junior College, Mantee e ...

), who dubs him "Friday" in reference to the novel. *In the 1970 Mexican film ''Robinson Crusoe'' in the Boy (Ahui Camacho) Final on rescue nude and In 1973 Sequel ''Robinson and Friday on Enchanted Island'' (Robinson y Viernes en la isla encantada). *''

Man Friday Friday is one of the main characters of Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' and its sequel ''The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe''. Robinson Crusoe names the man Friday, with whom he cannot at first communicate, because they fir ...

'', a 1975 British film, retold the story from Man Friday's point of view. It starred

Richard Roundtree Richard Roundtree (born July 9, 1942) is an American actor. Roundtree is noted as being "the first black action hero" for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film '' Shaft'', and its four sequels, released between 1972 and 2 ...

as Man Friday and

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

as Crusoe. *In the 1981 French TV movie ', Friday was played by

Gene Anthony Ray Gene Anthony Ray (May 24, 1962 – November 14, 2003) was an American actor, dancer, and choreographer. He was known for his portrayal of dancer Leroy Johnson in both the 1980 film '' Fame'' and the 1982–1987 ''Fame'' television ser ...

. *In the 1982 Norwegian TV series '' Brødrene Dal og spektralsteinene'', in episode number 5 in a parody called Robinson Caruso where Friday was called ''Langfredag (Long Friday)'' and played by

Knut Lystad Knut Ove Lystad (born 31 January 1946) is a Norwegian actor, singer, translator, screenwriter, comedian and occasional director, best known from the comedy trio KLM, alongside Trond Kirkvaag and Lars Mjøen. Career Lystad and Mjøen began their ...

*In the 1997 film version of ''

'',

William Takaku William Takaku (died 3 January 2011) was a Papua New Guinean film, television and theatre actor. He was also a screenwriter and a former theatre director. Career In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he travelled far from his birthplace on the isla ...

played Friday to

Pierce Brosnan Pierce Brendan Brosnan (; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish actor and film producer. He is best known as the fifth actor to play secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series, starring in four films from 1995 to 2002 (''GoldenEye'', ''Tomorrow ...

's Crusoe. *In the 2008 American TV series ''

Crusoe Crusoe may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Crusoe'' (film), a 1989 film by Caleb Deschanel based on the novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' * ''Crusoe'' (TV series), a 2008 television series based on the novel ''Robinson Crusoe'' * Crusoe the ...

'', Friday was played by

Tongayi Chirisa Tongayi Arnold Chirisa is a Zimbabwean actor known for playing Man Friday on NBC's ''Crusoe'' television series, Father Nicholas on ''The Jim Gaffigan Show'', and Hekule on Leon Schuster's '' Mr. Bones 2: Back from the Past'' movie. He is also ...

Idiom

Crusoe Dilke and Man Friday McKenna Punch c1900

The term Man Friday became an

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...

to describe an especially faithful servant or one's best servant or right-hand man. The female equivalent is ''Girl Friday.'' The July 1, 1912, edition of the news magazine "Industrial World", volume 46, issue 2, published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, uses the term Girl Friday. The title of the 1940 movie ''

His Girl Friday ''His Girl Friday'' is a 1940 American screwball comedy directed by Howard Hawks, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell and featuring Ralph Bellamy and Gene Lockhart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot centers on a newspaper edito ...

'' alludes to it and may have popularised it.

Reception

Friday's relationship with

has been the subject of academic analysis.

References

{{DISPLAYTITLE:Friday (''Robinson Crusoe'') Literary characters introduced in 1719 Characters in British novels of the 18th century Fictional servants Fictional cannibals Sidekicks in literature Male characters in literature Robinson Crusoe Nudity and protest Fictional children Fictional adolescents Fictional indigenous people of the Americas Nudity