Silence: Ethic Responsibility and the Power of the Other in Coetzee’s “Foe” and “The Life and Times of Michael K”:Part 4

IV. Conclusion: Assuming Responsibility for the Other
        Friday and Michael both suggest that the silence of the other has a power that demands the responsibility of those around them. Furthermore, the power of silence derives from ethical responsibility and the authority of resistance. As Marais suggests, “by assuming responsibility for the other, the subject gives him/her the right to command” (Marais 136). By assuming responsibility of the other, the subject is no longer allowed to be independent and care only for their well-being. Instead the subject is forced to place the well-being of the other before their own. Such is the case with the allusions to Sinbad and the old man, and the albatross. Both these “burden metaphor connotes ethical authority rather than political power” (Marais 146). Neither the old man nor the albatross have political power and originally appear inferior to those who later are forced to bear their burden. Their obligation to carry the burden of the other arises from sympathy and morals. The subjects find themselves drawn to help the other because of “his/her weakness” (Marais 135). 
        Both Susan and the medical officer become obsessed with this burden and wish to remove the burden by giving the silent others a voice. By hearing the truth, Susan and the medical officer hope to gain the knowledge necessary to eliminate the moral obligation they feel to Friday and Michael because “to know is to justify” (Levinas 82). However, Friday and Michael both remain silent and Susan and the medical officer are not able to place the “alien entity to a system of a prior concepts and ideas” (Marais 132). Their silence resists verifying or denying any speculations the subject has of them.
        Ir is not a coincidence that both Friday and Michael K suffer from a verbal disability that causes those around them to feel responsible for them. Coetzee uses deformations of the mouth in both characters to emphasize the helpless in their silence, while also foiling the effect that silence has to the verbal and able characters who care for them. Their silence is seen as a form of weakness in the eyes of Susan and the medical officer. However, it is this exact weakness that makes these character's pity and feel morally obligated to care for these speechless characters. Furthermore, they wish to know the stories that are capsulated deep within the minds of these characters. Friday and Michael remain mysteries and their stories remain untold. 
        Therefore, it doesn't matter whether Friday and Michael choose to be silent or if they are unable to speak. Either way their silence has a power over Susan and the medical officer. Ironically, the power of their silence comes from viewing these others are weak and powerless. However, it is a codependent relationship. By accepting ethical responsibility for Friday and Michael, Susan and the medical officer agree to do whateever is needed help them. In return, Friday and Michael are under their political power and benifit from their care. This relationship is unsatisfying for both Susan and Michael as they never get what they want from the other: truth and knowledge. Michael also does not approve of this relationship as he wishes to live in solitude and off the food of the land. As Friday and Michael never break their silences and tell their stories, both novels end without relieving the caretakers of the responsibility and obsession with the truth.