The Theme of Disgrace in Disgrace

Disgrace is a novel that has vitally attracted a wide readership ever since it was published in 1999.  Coetzee sets the novel in South Africa in the post-apartheid period. The plot is majorly centered on David Lurie, the main character of the story. He is 52 years and divorced, and he makes a living through teaching at Cape Technical University. The novel incorporates numerous themes, but the underlying one resonates with how South African people responded to changes in the racial hierarchy at the time of post-apartheid. The author also highlights other themes including violence, sexuality and the inhumane treatment of animals. The novel is criticized for its racial sentiment. The writer’s effective application of the literary styles help in communicating the underlying theme of the text. The use of allegories, imagery, and symbolism are devices evident in the text and effectively articulate the theme envisaged in the story. The most literary device that is employed in the text is symbolism. Coetzee utilizes different situations and personas to represent the scenarios in real life.

Critical Analysis

Disgrace is an interesting book which discusses important issues that are prominent in everyday life of people. The issues in the book were prevalent in South Africa, and it ignites the differences in the social status and cultural problems in the post-apartheid era. The book explicitly covers a sad picture of racial dilemmas. As such, the novel mirrors the anatomy of racial hierarchical change in contemporary South Africa. The conflict between the whites and the blacks illuminates the racial dilemmas (Manhart 14). The three men who attack Lurie and his daughter also propagate the conflict in the book. Racism is used to present the power struggles in a broad conflict. The play addresses the social, political and economic concerns in the society that was characterized by racial dilemmas.

The setting of the story is in the post-apartheid period in a country where it was ruled under racial segregation and blacks were undermined by the whites. Under the rule, the right of the blacks were limited. The blacks were not considered to be legal citizens in their own country, and they were forced to go to separate school, public places and hospitals. Blacks were deprived their citizenship. The novel’s point of view is the third person, and it is of literary fiction genre. The setting of the book illuminates the themes of racism and disgrace and the struggles that the characters undergo. The theme of race is highly evident, having been set in the post-apartheid period, the theme of race is prevented. There is outrage emanating from the bad history of oppression and violence, and these factors are difficult to suppress in the new South Africa. The author brings to light the racial tensions particularly when Lurie arrives in Salem. Lucy is one of the few farmers that remain in South Africa. The racial dynamics are more strained especially when Petrus is implicated indirectly for having facilitated the robbery (Manhart 17). The theme of rape which was a natural aspect in the apartheid rule is also seen. From the novel, Lucy is raped by three men who come to rob their house. The raping results in great hate and violent acts. Despite this, Lucy decides not to report the incident as she understands that the modern South African judicial system does not have any form of justice. The raping alters the relationship between Lucy and her father, Lurie. The aftermath of the act is depression and fear, and Lucy feels stigmatized. Notably, the author explores the moral foundation on which justice depends on which is a difficult aspect of achieving. Lucy struggles with the justice system. The reader is able to note that even with critical charges such as robbery with violence, justice is never served and the victims remain to suffer. Shame and sexual desires are the main issues at the heart of the storyline.

The theme of disgrace is repeated in a number of ways on the book. One incident is when Lurie becomes violent to his student, Melanie Isaacs. The professor sleeps with the student on several occasions. He is also a disgrace in his peers and the community. The conflict that runs the plot is introduced from the start of the novel when the reader is introduced to Lurie’s insatiable sexual appetite. Indeed, the resounding conflict revolves around the relationship he has with women. Coetzee states that Lurie “had affairs with the wives of colleagues; he picked up tourists in bars on the waterfront or at the Club Italia; he slept with whores” (Coetzee 7). A critical analysis of Lurie’s life brings out a person who has a significant problem of controlling his sexual desires. One of the commissioner remarks that Lurie‟s sexual harassment of Melanie to be racially motivated. He has sexual relationships with women such as Soraya and Melanie-Meláni.

The relationship he has with women end up in great distress (McDonald 6). Notably, disgrace is the underlining theme, and it underpins the events of the plot and thus portrays the reality that grappled the nation after the apartheid rule. An example of a disgrace account is evident when Lurie has a lasting impression on Soraya who is a prostitute. Soraya lives a double life, and this makes Lurie to be in a state of shame when he imagines how his family will think of him when they get to know that Soraya is a prostitute. Notably, feelings of dishonor, shame, and regret cloud the minds of the characters (McDonald 10). Lurie is driven by sexual desires. He is the main character of the story, and he has an affair with his student Melanie Isaacs.

Critically, transition and racisms run in the book to reveal how apartheid was dehumanizing to South Africans. Coetzee shows the way people in South Africa dealt with the shifts in the social order after the end of the apartheid rule. According to the novel, the whites no longer had significant power in the nation. On the other hand, the status of the black rose day after day as evident in the characters such as Petrus. At first, Petrus termed himself to be a “dog-man” (Coetzee 8). However, Petrus’ status rises in the new South African regime, and he becomes the one in power. Petrus owns the majority of the lands, and he also has massive influence in his area.  Through the transition from the old to the new South Africa, the black race is now able to enjoy the fruits of their fight and gain freedom. One of the greatest transformations in the novel concerns the attitude that people have toward animals. Animals are treated inhumanely, and it evidences violence. Dogs are not treated with dignity.

Coetzee employs literary devices in his book to make it captivating and bring out the underlining meaning of the text. The devices help the reader to understand the themes and the relevance of the novel on the society. The novel has important devices including symbolism, imagery, and allegory. The dogs are used as a symbol in the novel to bring the literary meaning. Dogs are thought to be a man’s best friend, and they play a huge role in promoting the theme of disgrace which the author-centered on. Evidently, the dogs also become characters in the novel. The imagery and allegory of the dogs are emphasized in the novel in order to illuminate the interests of the social status and disgrace.  Coetzee employs dogs to represent the statuses of the various people in the society. For example, the growing status of Petrus means that he no longer has an association with the dogs. With regard to Lurie, dogs are used to characterize his status and reflect his tribulations, personal trails and bring out the aspects of shame and disgrace which chronicle his life. When the novel comes to an end, the connection between people and dogs experiencing disgrace is more explicit. Therefore, the use of dogs reflects the different status of people held in society. Lucy does not want to go back to the life she lived before because of the low social status. She uses a dog to compare to the life she lived before.

Besides, the dog is stretched in the novel to reflect the ever-changing dynamics of the social issues. For example, Petrus uses the symbol of dogs into various accounts in the need to reflect the changing status. First, he introduces to Lurie as a dog man implying that Lucy’s assistance. As the novel proceeded, Petrus changes his social status, and he does not refer to himself as a dog man (Coetzee 15). Lurie again uses the symbol of the dog in attempts to portray the place he has in the society. The affair that Lurie has with the student is symbolized by the dog due to his undesirable sexual behavior. Lurie and Lucy discuss humiliation of events and the use of the dog signifies helplessness and lack of respect.

Conclusion

The novel has greatly stirred a lot of controversies from different scholars.  To some people, the text receives praise for the open depiction of the reality of the nature of South Africa in the post-apartheid period.  The era was characterized by struggles and turmoil on racial grounds. However, to some people, the novel is criticized due to its harsh and negative portrayal of a picture of the post-apartheid South Africa. The negative depiction of the black race is endorsed to be a white racist stereotypes that Coetzee centered on. For this reason, the novel has significantly drawn responses that are political and emotional towards the subject of the book. Nevertheless, the reception in the literary scholars is all positive, and Coetzee is termed to be an acclaimed writer. The book is a masterpiece and Coetzee certainly understands how to please his readers. The degree of realism in the novel is highly evident from the personality of the characters. Coetzee openly criticizes the repressive system that was prevalent in South Africa.

Works Cited

Coetzee, J. M. Disgrace. London: Vintage. 2011.

Manhart Niklas. J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace. A Realistic Criticism of ‘New’ South-Africa? New York. GRIN Verlag, 13 Feb 2012

McDonald William E.  Encountering Disgrace: Reading and Teaching Coetzee's Novel. Camden House, 2009