Disgrace ~ JM Coetzee : An analysis

JM Coetzee's work, "Disgrace" covers this "state of being" as its elemental theme,in as many dimensions as he could contemplate. And his skill is only exemplified by his extreme frugality with words and constraints on period and character roles. A novel of just 220 pages, this work is more than a handful for one to handle in one read.The complexity of characters portrayed, the uniqueness of plot and the choice of situations to exemplify quintessential human traits while forcing one to probe questions about life that one normally wishes to avoid is something that may be addressed only by Coetzee's unparalleled ability,command of language and creativity in expression.
The work is a marvel not only for its approach towards exploring human thought and action, but also in linking an individuals choices in the perspective of a nation's history and in exploring instruments of expression that guide the reader(rather obliquely) in unraveling for himself the truth/the author's intentions in the text.

The protagonist in the novel is David Lurie, a Professor of Romantic Literature at Technical University at Cape Town. The other lead characters forming the pillar holding up the plot of the novel is Lurie's daughter, Lucy and her helping hand, Petrus. With the unfurling of the narration, which is mostly a delineation of the thoughts that drive around in Lurie's head, we explore their personalities and explore the complexities in their relationships.

To cut the narration short in terms of the plot we,here's the jist of what happens.Professor David Lurie has a sexual temperament that can be described as Intense.In the desert of his life,he seeks a nine hour oasis of sexual indulgence with a prostitute named Soraya. However, when destiny gives him a peek into her private life, the relationship they shared ceases and he is left wanting. He is a slave to his desires, and in his desperation he seduces his student,Melanie and has a sexual affair with her.The duality of their relationship as teacher-student and man-mistress leads to unwarranted mix of actions on his behalf.Soon, the affair becomes public, he is accused of sexual harrasment and doctoring of academic records,tried in court,dishonoured and ostracised from society in disgrace. He seeks refuge at his daughter's place in the countryside.The story begins to unravel the complexities of the country life, in stark contrast to the "simplistic idiocy" with which its discussed in general.Petrus, an African by race,is her neighbour who doubles as a helping hand. He's on the rise as a prominent farmer and land owner in his own community.We are hinted towards his conniving to the rape of Lucy by three black men, of which one was a member of his family.Lucy is disgraced, but then chooses to continue the life she's been having. In the ordeals that life pushes Lurie into ,he begins to earn a living as a "dog-man" in the company of Bev Shaw, entertains sexual infidelity in Bev, and also finds a friend in her husband Bill Shaw.He does have a sojourn back to his City dwelling , only to realise that life cannot be lived in dignity again. He apologises to Melanie's parents for what he has done, and seeks absolution from her mother. He returns back to the countryside to be the support for his only love, his daughter during her days of pregnancy.To find a means to be independent,and to earn his living he joins Bev again at the dog-clinic.From his experiences at the "dog-clinic" and the trials at the countryside, he realises what is love,dignity of life and honour in life and death. He begins to appreciate life, and tries to make his contribution to the world through an opera on Byron's affair with Lady Teresa.

The beauty of the book, how I see it, however lies a lot in the Authors ingenuity in using Poetry and Quotations ,camouflaged within the Lurie's Romantic Literature coursework
The author has taken care to portray every character neither in black nor in white(literally ;)) but in shades of grey. We are asked to sympathise and understand every character for what they are, and in the process reevaluate our understanding of morality, of emotions and of the depth in our relationships.Life, Death,Love,Friendships,Old age, Honour and Dignity are questions that we asked to consider.And with the character's obsession with sex ,and a general description of this potent act in the history of human cultural evolution, we are made to question the weight of importance we assign to this act, as against the fidelity and integrity of ones mind and intentions,in determining one's strength in character. Rationality is never man's sole guide, Faith is, and in the absence of the faith ,what befalls man's life may as well be seen in the character of David Lurie.

"He stood a stranger in the breathing world,
an erring spirit from another hurled
a thing of dark imaginings that shaped
by choice the perils he by chance escaped."
...
He doesn't act on principle but on impulse,
and the source of his impulses is dark to him
his madness is not of head but of heart"
...
He could at times resign his own for others good
but not in pity,not because he ought
but in sum strange perversity of thought
that swayed him onward with a secret pride
to do what few or none would do beside
and this same impulse would in tempting time
mislead his spirit equally to crime."
~~ Lara, by Byron~~

Through these lines,David Lurie, asks his class to understand and sympathize with Lucifer.Lucifer did what he felt without any scruples.He acted,not on principle, but on impulse,whose source was dark to him.However, he reminds them that there is a limit to sympathy.Though he lives amongst them,he is not one of them.He is what he calls himself,a THING.He shall be condemned to solitude.
This could well have been the author's suggestion to the reader,with Lucifer being the pseudonym for Lurie.

Similarly, the author adopts quotations to highlight a remark or a belief.In the scenario when, Lucy informs Lurie of her pregnancy,with one of the rapists having fathered the child,we are repulsed to think about the character of the child.Abortion is suggested by the Lurie to do away with the child.But then Lucy questions the assumption of the child's depravity and asserts her willingness to bear the child and to believe that her love for it shall grow.
"Blest be the infant babe.No outcast he.Blest be the babe."

"To have a soulless image on the eye
That had usurped upon a living thought
That never more could be."
~~The Prelude by William Wordsworth

Lurie adheres to the import of these lines, in his assumption of Melanie's love for him and his notion of her character.He is not willing to destroy his opinion of her by reading her accusation of sexual harassment. He believes that she's right in what she's done because he hasn't been kind to her, and further she's bending to the pressures of family and peers.

There are many more instances where we get to understand about the characters and the author's intentions by interlinking bits and pieces of narratives scattered across the text.Its more like a puzzle, where the truth unravels itself with every read, as the present,past and future to every sentence is stored in memory and patterns are observed in the wonderful design of the author. We also see the author's use of imagery of Fire,Snakes,Plagues, Predator and Prey to indicate the dire straits the characters sail in.He even introduces Literary figures as characters in themselves or as metaphors for his characters.Teresa plays the lover that Lurie hopes to have and return to.Harmony symbolizes Laurie's vision of his impeccable Melanie

"Disgrace" as the elemental theme is covered in two layers, the obvious and the implicit.Lurie's fall into disgrace,the disgrace of Lucy's by her rapists,and the disgrace of death brought upon the injured/impotent dogs are among the obvious disgraces.The author also points towards the disgrace of old age,the disgraceful acts by men in their lust for power and the disgraceful state of a nation in transition from apartheid to post-apartheid regime.Its the implicit disgraces that form the core of the Author's message.The plot is set in a South-Africa in the late 1990's.The post-apartheid constitution had been adopted in May 1996.Ever since, S.Africa has been coming to grips with an identity that was egalitarian and secular.Power was being transferred,and roles were being reversed.Through the characters, the author indicates that the power shifts might be a welcome sight externally,to emphasise the egalitarian attitude of the state. However, he does warn that the means adopted may not be as graceful as expected.In the story, we may believe that Petrus,the former "dog-man",connived at the gang-rape of Lucy,with the understanding that he could build up his establishment at her expense. As circumstances roll out, we have Lucy consenting to be a "dog" in Petrus's household, and Lurie accepts his role as the village "dog-man" to earn his bread.Thus, providing the almost comical scenario of the black being the master and the whites being the dogs, in sharp contrast to historical norm of the whites' subjugation of the natives.With this fact of reality, the authors makes us realise that external appearances may be sweet, but the truth remains that the Mandela's "Rainbow Country" was far away from the horizon.