There’s no denying that Iain Reid is an excellent author, but his work, Foe, is a novel that questions us about relationships & change in a way that’s so different from any other book. Foes are filled with feelings of urgency on every page but keep us intrigued enough to complete it despite the discomfort.
Considered to lie in the psychological thriller side of novels, Foe is the second work Iain Reid came out with after his famous novel “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” which was adapted into a successful 2020 movie.
The storyline of Foe takes place in a dystopian future, where Hen and Junior, a loving, countryside couple, are pushed into turmoil after a stranger shows up at their door one day. Calling himself Terrance, the man brings forth surprising news that eventually ends up becoming the reason for Henrietta and Junior’s ultimate separation.
Foe was originally released back in August of 2018, with it gaining popularity quickly and even receiving a Bram Stoker Award. An Amazon Studios movie with Saoirse Ronan and Aaron Pierre in the roles of Hen and Junior will be released in theaters by the end of 2023.
Foe By Iain Reid: What Happens In The Novel?
With climate change leaving the world almost inhabitable, we are taken to a remote farm where the couple, Junior and Henrietta, live. As Foe begins, Junior wakes up from a daze and sees that a stranger has visited their home. While this is unusual, the news that the stranger, who calls himself Terrance, brings is even more surprising.
Junior gets selected by OuterMore for traveling to their space station called Installation. Here, he’ll have to stay with them for two years, but there’ll be nothing to worry about back home as Henrietta won’t be left alone. Instead, Terrance was now here to study Junior and create an AI version of him that could accompany Hen once Junior was off to the Installation.
Throughout the book, we see Junior and Hen being visited by Terrance, but one thing that Junior notices is that Terrance and Hen seem to know more about things than he does. This led to him believing Terrance would be his replacement once he was off to work.
Eventually, Junior starts to hate the way Terrance keeps coming, but it further frustrates him when Terrance just straight up moves in with them. After a while, Junior is one day informed that he did very well. A man who looks exactly like Junior walks into their home.
This is when Terrance reveals that the Junior we’ve been introduced to was the real one, while the one the book previously featured was the AI sent to live with Hen. AI Junior is unable to accept this and begs Hen to stop this mess, but she remains quiet. Terrance turns him off.
The book now features the real Junior, with his speech now being quote-marked. Junior and Hen start their normal life again, although Hen now misses the AI Junior a lot. Hen liked how the AI Junior started caring for her; this infuriated the real Junior.
After some time, Junior and Henrietta’s relationship just doesn’t work out. Hen misses the way the AI Junior was and eventually leaves the real Junior to be with the AI one. However, this is not where Foe ends.
Foe By Iain Reid: Ending Explained
After living with the AI Junior for a while, Hen had gotten attached to him. The real Junior was now a changed man after returning from the Installation. The Hen doesn’t like Junior’s current version and eventually walks out on him. Besides, Henrietta also wanted to explore more outside their farm and let go of that mundane life.
Later that day, Hen returns to their remote farm, but this time, her speech isn’t quote-marked. Junior now finds Hen sweet and caring and is glad to have his wife’s old version back. Terrance visits once again and sees that both Hen and Junior are now living happily.
Junior even goes as far as saying that things are now normal, even though they were anything but that. What Junior doesn’t realize is that the Hen that returned to live with him wasn’t real and is just an AI version of her. This is obvious as before the big reveal that Junior was an AI, his speech wasn’t quote-marked either.
Terrance could have been studying Hen’s behavior for two years to make a model of her that could live with Junior while she was away from the farm. Moreover, both of their real selves seem to hate beetles, while the AI Hen is seen admiring them by the end of the book.
Many theories have been proposed for what the Beetles signify throughout the film, with the most popular ones being that these beetles showed bugs in the system and that Hen and Junior are living in a simulation. Beetles also signify change and transformation, so that could also be why we see them throughout Foe, a novel that centers around similar themes. As with all of Iain Reid’s books, the true interpretation of Henrietta and Junior’s story and the world that Foe introduces to us is solely up to us.
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