Coetzee's Disgrace is full of important allusions that are worth investigating in relation to his themes. Here is just one example of a reading of "Lucy" (citation below)
"Her name is an allusion to St Lucy the Sicilian virgin martyr, patron saint of virgins, the blind and writers, who has a silencing throat wound described in the novel thus: 'Over the body of the woman silence is being drawn like a blanket. Too ashamed, they will say to each other, too ashamed to tell' (Coetzee 110). It is difficult not to infer that patriarchy is a rape which silences. . . .St Lucy's day falls on the thirteenth of December in the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice which emphasizes a long dark night of the soul and, of course, December is astrologically the time of Capricorn, the goat, with all its connotations of earthy lust. Ironically, it is Lurie who is reduced to silence by Lucy's experience. Her rape is all the harder for a father to bear because not only must it cause vicarious suffering via empathy, but it also emasculates him via his impotence and inability to imagine what was involved (97, 110, 158, 160) and this is compounded by Lucy's refusal to "share" the experience in any way or to listen to any of his paternalistic advice.
Source:
Gaylard, Gerald. "Disgraceful metafiction: intertextuality in the postcolony." Journal of Literary Studies 21.3-4 (2005): 315+. Academic OneFile. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
Other areas of this text worthy of exploration for their allusiveness--ie references to other texts, stories, history: these may become final exam questions!!!! Please review.
Dogs and other animals; goats for example: how are these connected to Lurie? Why does he cringe at the sight of the goat's damaged testicles? How is this an allusion to his own sexuality? Why is castration an important theme in the novel? How is it related to South Africa, post-apartheid? How do his feelings towards dogs change and why is this change significant?
Pastoral life in South Africa: how is the earth, the land, the farm (smallholding) Lucy occupies and works related to her, to South Africa? We speak of mother earth (never father earth). How does what happens to Lucy reflect what has happened to South Africa? What has happened that is evident in this novel about ownership of land post-apartheid? Who has power? Who does not? Is the female body symbolic of the land, of ownership?
The two crimes against women, Melanie and Lucy, have qualities that mirror each other. Lucy considers her rape a private matter much as Lurie considers his actions private, not something to be discussed or fought about publicly. Lurie is not interested in Melanie's feelings (at least not at the time of the almost rape), but he is deeply interested in Lucy's situation and wants revenge--much like the father of Melanie does! Does Lurie grow, change, discover feelings for others in the course of the novel?
Does Lurie's attitude towards life, towards the idea of control, towards others (friendship), towards animals, towards the land change? Why does Lurie allow the dog to be killed at the end of the novel? Why is this upsetting? What does it suggest about Coetzee's ideas about love, sacrifice, the ability to accept mortality? Has he achieved grace? Is he no longer in disgrace?
No comments:
Post a Comment