DISGRACE
By John Maxwell Coetzee ( J.M. Coetzee )
John Maxwell Coetzee, a renowned South African writer, achieved international acclaim with his book "Disgrace" in 1999, ultimately winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. Evaluating a book or work of art, particularly a written piece, requires a specific context—a consideration of its historical significance.
"Disgrace,"the evolving landscape of South Africa post-apartheid. The story revolves around David Lurie, a middle-aged university professor specializing in literature and romantic poetry. His journey serves as a conduit for portraying the societal changes in South Africa. From the very first pages, the narrative enthralls the reader, prompting contemplation as it navigates David's unconventional relationship with his student, Melanie Isaac. This ambiguous liaison culminates in scandal within society, leading to his resignation from the university.
The novel delves into intricate themes such as morality's complexities, sin, social norms, power dynamics, race, social responsibility, and ultimately, the notion of embracing acceptance for liberation. Seeking solace and attempting to forget his past, David retreats to his daughter Lucy's farm in the Eastern Cape, only to confront the stark realities prevalent in rural and remote areas. Racial tensions and the intricate power dynamics, manifested within both the colored and white communities, permeate the narrative.
The perpetual concern parents harbor for their adult children's fate and lives remains a central focus. As the tumultuous relationship between father and daughter unfolds amidst life-altering events, David begins reassessing his beliefs and values. His encounters within the village prompt a gradual realization—uncertainties cannot be indefinitely deferred; instead, finding solace lies in acknowledging and accepting the unexpected.
The book directly addresses the moral decline and scandal of an individual, offering a profound insight into the social and political trajectory of a nation in transition. It asserts that when individuals acknowledge their social responsibilities and embrace forgiveness, opportunities for redemption emerge. Coetzee's narrative not only mirrors society but also provides a pathway toward reconciliation, addressing both individual and collective disturbances.
Follow your temperament, it is not a philosophy, he would not dignify it with that name. It is a rule, like the Rule of St Benedict. page2
However, he has not forgotten the last chorus of Oedipus: Call no man happy until he is dead. page2
Cape Town: a city prodigal of beauty, of beauties. page 12
'from fairest creatures we desire increase,' he says, 'that thereby beauty's rose might never die. page 16
we also first beheld. unveiled the summit of Mont Balance,and grieved. to have a soulless image on the eye. that had usurped upon a living thought.that never more could be. page 21
a poem from William wordworth is taken from the book The Prelude
(The main theme of The Prelude by Wordsworth is that society is disappointing, but nature presents the solutions to the problems caused by society.)
yet we can't live our daily lives in a realm of pure idea, cocooned from sense- experience. the question is not, How can we keep the imagination pure, protected from the onslaughts of reality? the question has to be, can we find a way for the two to coexist? page 22
Look at line 599. Wordsworth is writing about the limits of sense-perception. It is a theme we have touched on before. As the sense-organs reach the limit of their powers, their light begins to go out. Yet at the moment of expiry that light leaps up one last time like a candle-flame, giving us a glimpse of the invisible. The passage is difficult, perhaps it even contradicts the Mont Blanc moment. Nevertheless, Wordsworth seems to be feeling his way toward a balance: not the pure idea, wreathed in clouds, nor the visual image burned on the retina, overwhelming and disappointing us with its matter-of-fact clarity, but the sense- image, kept as fleeting as possible, as a means toward stirring or activating the idea that lies buried more deeply in the soil of memory. Page 22
Tips from App Chat GTP
"The Mont Blanc moment" refers to a serene, tranquil, or highly memorable experience, often associated with a majestic or breathtaking view. This phrase derives from the Mont Blanc mountain, the highest peak in the Alps, and implies a profound and remarkable moment of beauty, peace, or inspiration.
he stood a stranger in this breathing world, An erring spirit from another hurled; A thing of dark imaginings, that shaped. By choice the perils he by chance escaped. page 32
Lord Byron
Many Christians believe the Devil was once a beautiful angel named Lucifer who defied God and fell from grace. This assumption that he is a fallen angel is often based the book of Isaiah in the Bible, which says, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
On the contrary, we are invited to understand and sympathize. But there is a limit to sympathy. for thought he lives among us, he is not one of us. He is exactly what he calls himself: a thing, that is, a monster. Finally, Byron will suggest, it will not be possible to love him, not in the deeper, more human sense of the word. He will be condemned to solitude. page 34
what kind of compromise? re-education. Re-formation of the character. the code- word was counselling. page 66
unacted desires can turn as ugly in the old as in the Young. page 70
there have been goats here since the beginning of time. They don't have to be told what steel is for, and fire. They know how death comes to a goat. they are born prepared. Page 84
He is silent. Then: Do you know why my daughter sent me to you? She told me you were in trouble. Not just in trouble. In what I suppose one would call disgrace. He watches her closely. She seems uncomfortable; but perhaps he is imagining it. page 85
writes Byron. In adultery, all the tedium of marriage rediscovered. 'I have always looked to thirty as the barrier to any real or fierce delight in the passions.'
He sighs again. How brief the summer, before the autumn and then the winter! He reads on past midnight, yet even so cannot get to sleep. page 87
" My case rests on the rights of desire," he says. "On the god who makes even the small birds quiver." Page 89
Tips from App Chat GTP
In these lines, David Lurie is contemplating the essence of desire and its relationship with power. He suggests that his argument or stance is based on the fundamental rights associated with desire, potentially hinting at the complexities and consequences of human desires and their role in shaping our actions. The reference to the "god who makes even the small birds quiver" might imply the omnipotence or overwhelming force of desire, which can impact even the smallest or seemingly insignificant aspects of life. It's a moment of reflection on the all-encompassing nature of desire and its influence.
He says himself in the girl's flat, in her bedroom, with the rain pouring down outside and the heater in the corner giving off a smell of paraffin, kneeling over her, peeling off her clothes, while her arm flop like the arm of the dead person. I was a servant of Eros: that is what he wants to say, but does he have the effrontery ? It was a God who acted through me. What vanity! Yet not a lie, not entirely. In the whole wretched business there was something generous that was doing its best to flower. If only he had known the time would be so short! Page 89 "There was something so ignoble in the spectacle that I despaired. One can punish a dog, it seems to me, for an offence like chowing a slipper. A dog will accept the justice of that: a beating for a chewing. But desire is another story. No animal will accept the justice of being punished for following its instincts." page 90 watchfulness became the watchwords: the watchfulness of all over all. Purgation was replaced by the purge. page 91 Tips from App Chat GTP In "Disgrace" by J.M. Coetzee, these sentences indicate a shift in societal attitudes or values. "Watchfulness became the watchwords: the watchfulness of all over all" suggests a change where people became more vigilant and controlling, perhaps overseeing each other's actions closely. This heightened scrutiny and surveillance might indicate a more authoritarian or controlling environment. "Purgation was replaced by the purge" implies a change from a process of cleansing or purification (purgation) to a more forceful and aggressive removal or elimination of something or someone (the purge). It signifies a shift from a potentially more forgiving or therapeutic approach to dealing with problems or issues to a more ruthless or extreme method of eradication or removal.
Rape, god of chaos and mixture, violator of seclusions. Raping a lesbian worse than raping a virgin: more of a blow. page 105
He sees it quite clearly, and it fills him with (the word will not go away) despair. The blood of life is leaving his body and despair is taking its place, despair that is like a gas, odourless, tasteless, without nourishment. You breathe it in, your limbs relax, you sease to care, even at the moment when the steel touches your throat. page 108
Petrus has a vision of the future in which people like Lucy have no place. But that need not make an enemy of petrus. Country Life has always been a matter of neighbours scheming against each other, wishing on each other pests, poor crops, financial ruin, yet in a crisis ready to lend a hand. page 118 "he shivers, as if a goose has trodden on his grave" page 130 Tips from App Chat GTP The sentence "he shivers, as if a goose has trodden on his grave" from J.M. Coetzee's book "Disgrace" implies that the character experiences a sudden shiver or feeling of fear as if something eerie or unsettling has happened. The phrase "as if a goose has trodden on his grave" alludes to a superstitious belief that feeling a sudden shiver is a sign that someone has walked over your future burial place, indicating an omen or a sense of impending doom or discomfort.
He does not understand what is happening to him. Until now he has been more or less indifferent to animals. Although in an abstract way he disapproves of cruelty. He cannot tell whether by nature he is cruel or kind. He is simply nothing. He assumes that people from whom cruelty is demanded in the line of duty, people who work in the slaughterhouse, for instance, grow carapace over their souls. Habit hardens: it must be so in most cases, but it does not seem to be so in his. He does not seem to have the gift of hardness. page 143 But there are other people to do these things- the animal welfare thing, the social rehabilitation thing, even the Byron thing. He saves the honour of corpses because there is no one else stupid enough to do it. that is what he is becoming: stupid, daft, wrongheaded. page 146
You have lost your job, your name is mud, your friends avoid you, you hide out in Torrance Road like a tortoise afraid to stick its neck out of its shell. People who aren't good enough to tie your shoelace make jokes about you. Your shirt isn't ironed, God know who gave you that haircut, you've got- ' she arrests her tirade. You are going to end up as one of those sad old men who poke around in rubbish bins. page 189 Enriched: that was the word the newspapers picked on to jeer at. A stupid word to let slip, under the circumstances, yet now, at this moment, he would stand by it. By Melanie, by the girl in Touws River; by Rosalind, Bev Shaw, by Soraya: by each of them he was enriched, and by the others too, even the least of them, even the failures. Like a flower blooming in his breast, his heart floods with thankfulness. page 192 Between Lucy's generation and mine the curtain seems to have fallen. I don't even notice when it fell. page 210
One morning he glances up to see the faces of three little boys peering at him over the concrete wall. He rises from his seat; the dogs start barking; the boys drop down and scamper off whooping with excitement. What a tale to tell back home: a mad old man who sits among the dogs singing to himself! Mad indeed. How can he ever explain, to them, to their parents, to D Village, what Teresa and her lover have done to deserve being brought back to this world. Page 212 it gets harder all the time. Bev Shaw once said. Harder, yet easier too. One gets used to things getting harder; one ceases to be surprised that what used to be as hard as hard can be grows harder yet. page 219
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