"Disgrace"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace", an allegory of rape and reconciliation of South Africa's past and present, depicts a "new", post-apartheid South Africa wherein deep societal changes and crimes of the past haunt the present, obscuring reality. The author points out that South Africa has one of the highest incidents of rape in the world; and, in "Disgrace", Coetzee exploits this characteristic to frame the political questions, which face the country. The paper relates that the book suggests that South Africa should recognize apartheid but to dwell on it and to blame it for the problems, will only lead to more grudges and distrust.

From the Paper:

"Raped in her home by three black males, who she sees as wanting to subjugate her (159), she decides not to even mention the "truth" of what happened in order to keep peace. In Coetzee's new South Africa then, the men subjugate women as whites once did to indigenous people. Lucy's decision to give birth to the mixed-race baby represents an acceptance of past crimes and their aftermath but also a next step, for as she reminds her father, "it will be a child of this earth."(216) The infant can be seen as the new South Africa: biracial, born of hate and violence, yet one for whom "love will grow" (216). Furthermore, her refusal to return to Holland suggests that the migration trend among young white South Africans isn't the way to go. She stays "not for the sake of an idea," (105) but because to leave would be a "defeat," (161) an acceptance of the impossibility of harmonious race-relations in South Africa."

More papers on "Disgrace":

• Analytical Essay # 130623 : "Villain and Victim Characters in "Disgrace"
• Book Review # 96425 : "Disgrace"--A Review"
• Book Review # 111888 : "Discourse and Power in J. M. Coetzee's "Disgrace"

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