David's Relations of an Animal to a Human

David relates himself to animals, which is ironic because he never wanted to help Bev Shaw at the animal clinic in the first place. While helping her, David is drawn to the animals and somehow feels obligated to make sure that the dead animals are disposed of correctly. His concern for the animals helps him gain a sense of compassion that he was initially missing from his life. His desires led him to hurt himself and others in the process. David compares his desires to that of an animal, justifying it as being in his nature and you can not force an animal to do something that is not in his nature. As humans we all have instincts and develop behaviors in life because of our environment. I believe that David's environment while with Melanie consisted of relations with romantic objects amongst them. Melanie assisting him to remove her clothes, her young body, her unique mannerisms and her silence. 

The environment of an animal is somewhat different they develop instincts from wild life and or under human care. David becomes connected to animals. Towards the ending of the novel, David is upset to learn that Petrus is depriving two sheep of food and water because he ties them to a nearby stable. Petrus will slaughter the sheep and he believes that it is being immoral considering that the people around will eat them afterwards.  Lurie begins to show a concern for the animals and takes the sheep close to a dam where they can gain nourishment. I believe that this is David way of explaining how he is feeling and why he has not acknowledged the fact that he was wrong in some part and should show remorse for what took place with Melanie. David develops some sort of bond with the two sheep and studies there every move. He does not love the sheep, but I think he considers the sheep part of life and his penance. Ironically earlier in the novel he thinks if he helps Bev Shaw it will make him a better person and he does not want that to happen. In a way his priority for animal care has made him a better person and I am not sure if he is aware of his improvement or if he just denies it . David does not admit his remorse for Melanie but the influence led by the trauma to his daughter and the animals (not being an individual) has touched him in someway that it has created a different David internally.

Violence and abuse (unposted blog due to error from last week)

  

       In the novel Purple Hibiscus, Kambili is forced to stand in a tub as her father pours hot water on her feet initially burning them, putting her in horrible pain. He tries to justify this abuse as a lesson to teach his children as someone once taught him as a child. This time instead of getting her mind to forget it her father comforts her letting her know why he did this to her. Is it alright for a parent to abuse their child and then comfort them giving them some kind of reason to think that it was the moral thing to do? How can he have handled this lesson differently? At one point in the novel Papa take a belt and strikes his entire family,Mama, Kambili and Jaja because he believes the devil has caused them to sin. Papa has certain beliefs and uses different methods which turn out to become violent to help his family realize what they are doing right. Kambili never speaks about her abusive experience nor does she defend herself against her father. Does Papa mean well? Does he do this because it is in his nature? How does it affect his family?

    A child is a joy, Papa abuses Mama and as a result kills their unborn baby. Jaja and Kambili seemed to be really excited about the baby in the novel and later are upset  to find out the baby will not be born. How does a woman get over a normal miscarriage or  abortion, let alone losing your baby to abuse? Throughout the novel, silence is a form of forgetting this abuse. Kambili is not rebellious and later in the novel, rebels by defending her grandfathers painting after her father wishes to destroy it. She accepts the abuse and defies her father by remaining on the floor as a way of protecting the painting. Kambili then thinks of her unborn sibling and tries to relate her position to the baby. Throughout the novel the characters tend to either rebel as a result of the abuse or accept it by ignoring it and keep it bottled up inside. To expand this discussion, we can think about protection. Both Kambili and Jaja want to protect the baby from their father, Kambili wants to protect the memory of her grandfather as well as herself by not talking back to her father and or speaking out about this abuse. Aunty Ifeoma tries to protect Mama after she learns that Mama lost her baby to domestic violence of Papa and so she asks her to stay with her for a couple of days in fear of further abuse.  Mama wants to be free so she protects herself by poisoning Papa (murdering him) and Jaja protects Mama by taking the fall for Papa's murder. It seems like an on going thing. How can they change their former life? How can they function without Papa?

Exploring Contrasts Throughout the Novel

In Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, we are faced with increasingly more contrasts as the story progresses. The novel explores the troubling tensions between generations, sexes, and races through its plot. At first we are introduced to David’s sexual encounters which seem to contrast him in age. Although he is a 52 year old man, as well as a father of a young daughter his sexual encounters typically consist of under age girls such as Soraya and Melanie.

Then we are confronted with the issue of sex. Does David in fact believe there are different standards for him because he is a male? It seems that there is no remorse for Melany from either the school or from David himself. In fact the school even criticizes her for daring to put in such a complaint, “this young woman who is dragging your name through the mud…of course I blame her!” (Coetzee 45). This shows that Melany is looked as an inferior because she is a female in contrast to the male figures in her society.

Following this part of the novel, an underlying conflict becomes apparent. It seems that there is more to the contrast of male authority verses female inferiority at play. We are encountered by the complexities and racial conflict in South Africa, through a historical context. Now we begin to see inferiority verses superiority being caused by racial discriminations and standards. The situation where David, a white man takes advantage of Melanie, a black girl seems irrelevant in comparison to the black men that rape Lusy. The contrast in color, being black or white greatly affects the public’s reaction to the crime being committed.

Justice..

Indeed once again in life we encounter the fact that " what goes around must come around" this example could be found in the novel Disgrace by J.M.Coetzee. Towards the end of the chapter, we learn that Lucy who is David’s daughter is raped by two African men. Not only that, she also hide it and dose not report the rape to the police even though David himself tried convincing her many times. The fact that David himself is trying to convince his daughter to report is an hypocritic act ? I strongly think so !. What happed to Lucy has also happened to Melanie and Saroya. However the only difference is that they both have moved on in life. One settled down in a different county and the other Melanie filed a case against him( David) thus obtaining a mental satisfaction. I feel that to live with the fact that being a white women in Africa who is raped by two black man is indeed extremely shameful. In the previous few novels, we have constantly learnt that it is the Europeans or the white men who dominated countries like Java, Indian, Philippines, Africa or in other words most of the world. In this context it is none other then a white women who is being raped. Where is the status then ? Hence I feel this is the reason as to why Lucy didn’t report the rape. She also mentions that " the act was violent and filled with hate". Moreover she also says " .....will taste the defeat for the rest of my life"(161). She is clearly shaken by the incident and refuses to share it. In the last few chapter David’s alienation from the society becomes pronounced. Neither the father nor the daughter has any hope for the future. I then ask myself...who is the dominating figure in this context? It is none other then David and Lucy who are broken, hurt and a disgrace to themselves and the nation. Justice is the standard by which one measures guilt and innocence. However in this novel, J.M. Coetzee explores the moral foundation on which justice depends. Is justice in this case then fair ? I feel that it is indeed nothing more then a show, an act !

Females

Could it be that one of the ideas incorporated in this book is that the women we meet go through a cycle of life and that cycle is a natural cycle of life. For these women they were once daughters who became lovers and who then became mothers? For example Soraya was once a daughter who got married and becomes a mans lover then she has two children(boys) and with that comes a new title which is mother. Same as Lucy she is David's daughter and now she is helen's lover and with the course of nature she might become a mother? Same goes for the other female figures in this novel like Bev Shaw and her Husband. This is the natural cycle of life. We are born to our parents who went through the natural cycle of life in the sense of sex. This will forever be the cycle of life and it is natural. Not that I am saying that David is going about his sexual lifestyle the right way however this is nature and desire is part of our natural being however it is up to David to choose what he feels is right and what is wrong however it seems that he can not say no and accept that he is a Sexaholic I came to conclusion because throughout the book up until he comes with his daughther (as far as I have read) he needs to have sexual intercourse to complete his schedule in a sense. Meaning after Soraya left him he did not know what to do with his time so what does he do, he went and found another prostitue. After that he chases after Melanie in a stocking sort of way. It seems that his natural desires are uncontroable perhaps this is why dogs are such a big symbol in this book. A symbol of David's Character. When Soraya left he was asking the agency to give them her info he looks her info up he rejects him and boom he goes after Melanie just like a stray dog. A stray dog would look for his owner after being lost but after a couple of days if a new person finds him they would not reject. In a way this is like what David does after being rejected by Soraya he finds a new female.
Also another thing i would like to talk about is Petrus is it me or is it weird that he dissapers right befroe the attack and then suddenly appears and plans a party and he asks weird around Lucy I believe that Petrus might have something to do with the attack or might have known about it.

A New Person

In the novel, Disgrace, Coetzee shows the reader a new person in not only David Lurie, but in Lucy as well. We do not see their new characters until after the traumatic event, the break in. In Lurie's old character he was a womanizer. He took advantage of women in many ways, the most important of them, physical. Even though he says that his actions are only a result of his desires, this is no excuse. Even though Lurie's stay with his daughter initially was to escape the media and madness that his story had created in the town of the university, it may have been Coetzee way of letting the reader know this new place would possibly not only create a new life, but a new person. He is not able to see the abuse that he has been carrying out until his daughter is taken advantage of and raped. Now, he is able to look at things from a different perspective, the perspective of a father not being able to protect his daughter. Coetzee allows for the reader to see a more sensitive side of David after the event as well. The old David seemed to just believe what he was doing was right and that was the end of it. David was very critical of his daughter and her lifestyle. He did not have any regard for the farmlife or animals. It is not quite clear whether David is just more sensitive towards these things now because Lucy was stripped of things and they meant the world to her? Lucy is also a new person after she is raped and robbed. Lucy's previous life was simple, but she was happy. Coetzee goes to show that one does not have to be living in luxury just to be happy. She was content with simply the satisfaction of helping animals and vending. Afterwards Lucy is withdrawn, unhappy, and quiet in many ways. Her silence is what is killing her father inside and out. He does not understand how it is possible for her to keep quiet about the rape, but Lucy is determined to. She not only lost her animals, but is almost as if Coetzee is trying to show us that she lost her soul. Even though a piece of her is missing she will not speak up because it will compromise the bigger issues in society and possibly make matters worse.

Chanel Merchant