Rituals make things easier

Thus far in the story we've been following a man who becomes a victim of his own routine. David has grown extremely mechanical in every aspect of his life. From the way he handles his relationship with Soraya, to the way he teaches his students, to the way he goes about wooing his peers and Melanie. He realizes that as he gets older things don't come as easily to him anymore. Whenever something shakes him out of his comfort zone he desperately seeks a way to get back into in. He's so caught up in trying to keep the fire within alive that he fails to realize how his actions affect others.

One may be tempted to sympathize with David and agree that he merely acts on his instic to love, his instict to live, his instict to feel, but we can't ignore the fact that he migrates from one experience -or person- to another when it, or she no longer meets his very specific requirements for community. After Soraya decides to block him out of her life, he quickly finds refuge with a "new" Soraya. When this Soraya fails to live up to the mystique of the previous one, he moves on to his colleague, then onto Melanie.

With Melanie, even though he's fully aware of the severity of the situation and the damage he might cause, he decides to perpetuate his pursuit solely based on a basic instict that he cannot turn down. He is a "victim" of Eros. He thus become an istrument for the gods, and proudfully executes his god-given assignment. It's that same pride that drives him to act irrationally and reject the offer of the board -who inspite of it all are sincerely looking after his best interest. He pleads guilty in a self-glorifying gesture, but he's not at all repenting for his actions.

Just as we have seen in "The earth of Mankind" and "Purple Hibiscus," it takes for a man/woman to experience a traumatic experience -more specifically, for his or her loved ones to undergo a traumatic experience for them to really awaken and shift their way of thinking. As the story progresses we hear less and less of David's own "disgrace," and the author draws our (and David's) attention closer to Lucy's. David is seemingly torn by the terrible turn of events, and feels both helpless and responsible in his role of father.

However, I raise this question: Is it far fetched to think that David might be subconsciously using this event as a means to satisfy his hunger for passion? Could Lucy's disgrace be his new Soraya, or Melanie?

Lesson learn equals one suffering

In this novel David clearly wants women for one reason and that is for sexual intercourse this can not be classified as intimacy because there is no sense of foreplay or taking the time to be intimate so perhaps his desire is only to feel pleasure by having sex with no attachment. He is being selfish in the sense that he wants to fulfill his manly desire which we discuss in class as being brought on by natural desires of men. Could it be that in the sense of the dogs David was slowly becoming an untamed dog. From the beginning of the book it states that he is divorce but we have yet to find out the reason. Could it be that his daughter Lucy had to suffer for him to learn a lesson? I mean he was slowly turning into a man that looked at women just as a sex symbol something to get his hands on and if he did not accomplish this he became aggressive like in the case of the sex he has with Melanie. So perhaps it could be that his daughter unfortunate incident is an eye opener for him in the sense that he comes to a realization that the way he treats women is not okay and its not morally nice? His daughter had to suffer this horrified action of crime for him to come to terms with his own innate sexual desires? I do not know if it has to do so much with race as I have not reached so far in the book to draw such conclusions. However I still stand to say that he never raped Melanie and her actions to file a complaint against him has hidden motives she has to have a hidden agenda

So far mama is being depicted as inferior to papa. Mama has no saying in any matter nor does she ask questions. For example when papa and Jaja have an argument about why Jaja did not take communion and mamas figurines were broken she did not ask what happened rather she started to clean up the broken pieces. "She stared at the figurines pieces on the floor and ten knelt and started to pick them up with her bare hands" (7). It seems that she is definately scared of asking papa questions. One can't help but ask is she okay with this supression or is it becasue she is not a working woman that she does not want any arguments. Mama does not want to voice her opinion at the dinner table when everyone was tasting papa's new drink for his factory. Also when the children are finished with dinner or lunch they say "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Papa. Thank you, Mama". Why is that mama is last is it because of her gender or simply because she is not valued as much as papa in the sense that she does not contribute financially?

Blooming

In the beginning of the novel when Papa and Jaja are arguing because he did not go to communion and Papa “picked up the missal and flung it across the room, toward Jaja” (7). The top shelf was cracked and the figurines landed in many pieces. This could be a symbolic reference to the status of the family right now. In the second half of the book Before Palm Sunday the family is broken up. Papa is in trouble because of his newspaper Standard, Mama is left home alone with Sisi and the children are with Aunty Ifeoma. They are slowly being separated and the children are blooming in different directions. This could also be a reference to the title of the book Purple Hibiscus because Hibiscus bloom when they are exposed to a lot of sunlight and that is what these children are being exposed to right now. They are no longer in their dark gloomy home where they have no voice and no control of their lives(rather they are like robots) they are now in the light of many new things and therefore they are blooming. Jaja for example seems different to Kambili “”His shoulders seemed broader, and I wonder if it was possible for a teenager’s shoulders to broaden in a week” (154). They are exposed to having emotions and having their voices heard. Like the hibiscus they are being showed tender love and care (tlc) and they are blooming into teenage hood. Also the fact that at home they are constantly suffocating although they live in a mansion they are not allowed to breathe feely. It is ironic that at aunty Ifeoma’s home is so small and one could suffocate in this environment (given the description of the size of the house) but instead Jaja and Kambili are free.

David

David seems to have issues with his age therefore I believe that he 
preys on young beautiful women to make himself feel young once again. 
With Melanie he thinks to himself as he is calling her to invite her 
for lunch that she is too old for him yet he still invites her for 
lunch. This is one of the reasons why I drew this conclusion, why else 
would he want such a young girl she is 20 and he is 52. Also after 
Soraya leaves the Escort agency he finds another girl who is no more 
than 18 years old. "This one is no more than eighteen" (Coetzee 8). 
The fact that when Soraya leaves to return to her family life he feels 
that he can not continue without her he needed to find another soraya 
perhaps Melanie is this other Soraya. Also the fact that he would 
jepordize his career simply becasue he does not want to get caught up 
with the way the system works. His collegues want him to give a 
sincere apologize however he refuses because he does not beleive what 
he did was wrong. Although he is being charged with Harrassement he 
does not feel the need to make his own statement which strikes me as 
odd. Does this mean that sex is the only important thing going for 
him. I mean clearly he is fed up with his current career he has been 
divorced twice. He knows that he is getting old and he knows that one 
day he will be dried up could it be that he wants to enjoy life now?

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Irony in Disgrace

I just wanted to bring up the incredible irony that we come across in the reading for today. I found it funny how after we just had a discussion about rape and consent, we come across the horrible scene in which something bad happens to David's daughter, Lucy. They encounter three men at the farm, and when one asks to use their phone the other's force themselves in. Lurie is knocked out, and after the ordeal is over, Lucy tells David that she has been raped.

She refuses to tell Lurie many details, and doesn't report the part about the rape in the police report. It's interesting to wonder how much this effects David, and if he relates to his experiences with women in his past. He starts to grow further away from his daughter after this, and he begins to get cut-off, just as his old prostitute cuts him off, and also how he loses his relationship with Melanie.

'Desire is another story'

Desire is indeed another story for Professor David Lurie and his daughter Lucy. The professor Lurie according to 'Disgrace' by J.M. Coetzee, is a man filled with manly desires and do not see anything wrong in such mannish instincts manifesting when it is not appropriate. An example, is his sexual involvement with his student Melanie. She is younger than his own daughter Lucy and of course vulnerable. He shows no repentance because he thinks it is his God given right to show his manhood when ever he feels therefore, it is unjust to punished. In his own words, "One can punish a dog, it seems to me, for an offence like chewing 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 instinct."

What an irony! Lucy is raped by two total strangers who like David followed their instincts of uncontrolable desire and lust without passion. Will it be true to say, He brought his fate or ill luck on his daughter because of his belief?