Robinson Crusoe and Friday had a fairly tumultuous relationship.

The reader sometimes gets the idea

that Crusoe and Friday are like a father and son, but other times they seem more like Crusoe is the
Master and Friday is just the slave who must serve his Master for as long as he lives. The literature
frequently expresses this colonial master-servant component of the relationship, for example, “I
[Crusoe] made him know his Name should be Friday… I likewise taught him to say Master, and then let
him know, that was to be my Name.” Crusoe keeps his real name a secret from Friday, displaying a
certain hierarchy in which Crusoe is the master and Friday is only the servant. When Crusoe gives Friday
his name, disregarding what his real name might be, he effectively illustrates the practise of slaves being
given names by their colonial masters during that era. But Friday does not view this master-servant
relationship poorly; rather, he accepts it with great gratitude and exhibits behaviour that Crusoe views
as submission to service.: “he kneel’d down again, kiss’d the Ground, and laid his Head upon the
Ground, and taking me by the Foot, set my Foot upon his Head: this it seems was in token of swearing to
be my Slave for ever.” This portion of the phrase strongly suggests that Friday accepted Crusoe’s offer of
“everlasting slavery” in return for saving his life.

After ensuring that the last savages are properly killed, Crusoe practically adopts Friday as his own.
Similar to the situation with the use of a gun, it is clear that Crusoe does not entirely trust Friday. The
colonial master-slave relationship, where the master did not fully trust the slave in his task, is supported
by this cautious degree of relatively low trust. The owner will not give the slave credit for his work,
which is the difference. As Crusoe proceeds to describe Friday, he makes an effort to persuade the
reader that he is not the stereotypical black person of the day. Black people were considered to be
inferior to animals and were mistreated by their owners, who treated them like rags. Crusoe is
attempting to elevate Friday’s status in the social structure by persuading the reader that Friday does
not belong to that group: “he had all the Sweetness and Softness of an European…. His Hair was long
and black, not curl’d like Wool… The Colour of his Skin was not quite black,…….but of a bright kind of a
dun olive Colour his Nose small, not flat like the Negroes… Teeth well set,and white as Ivory.” The text
also contains a hidden message regarding his brilliance: “his Forehead very high, and large” Crusoe
implies that Friday is an intellectual guy by describing him as having a high and broad forehead in this
passage. Another instance of Crusoe trying to persuade the reader that Friday was anything but the
usual black of those days is the idea that black people are very lowly creatures.

The way Friday acts in this section of the novel is crucial because he is so grateful for Crusoe’s
compassion and paternal concern that, particularly in the days immediately after their meeting, he seeks
out numerous opportunities to express his gratitude in a lavish manner. The alliteration used in
“Subjection, Servitude and Submission” creates something similar to a chant, to show the promise made
by Friday to support Crusoe for as long as he lives and giving the impression that he would never let
Crusoe down. Friday appears to believe that Crusoe is some sort of deity or angel who has come to save
him from fate when Crusoe provides him with clothing, food,drink, and a shelter. Crusoe teaches Friday
a variety of talents, all of which show him to be quite nimble. Nobody takes Friday’s diligence and insight
for granted. Crusoe has a favourable opinion of Friday: “for never Man had a more faithful,
loving,sincere Servant, than Friday was to me: without Passions, Sullenness or Designs, perfectly oblig’d
and engag’d: his very Affections were ty’d to me, like those of a Child to a Father”.