Essay on "Disgrace" by J. M. Coetzee

J. M. Coetzee’s “Disgrace” offers a variety of different characters, which differ referring to their background, their lifestyle as well as their general behaviour. While there is a certain range of figures to choose from, picking out any to sympathise with is rather tough, as they all seem to have certain flaws. The most obvious choice for a character from any book to sympathise with would probably be the main protagonist but Coetzee’s central character seems to fail arousing sympathy or compassion at any time. David Lurie the main protagonist of “Disgrace” is quite successful in his job at the beginning of the book although he just goes through the motions in order to get along. When he starts to lose everything due to a short affair with one of his students it’s rather hard feeling sorry for him as he seems to get what he deserves and what his despicable actions have led him to. David is self-centered and his affection for his young student Melanie turns out to be quite obsessive as he consistently ignores how wrong his behaviour is. There even comes a point where he realizes that this affair is unbalanced and somehow unwanted by Melanie but still does not put it to an end: “Not rape, not quite that, but undesired nevertheless, undesired to the core. As though she had decided to go slack, die within herself for the duration, like a rabbit when the jaws of the fox close on it’s neck.”1