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?