Disgrace Essay

In put down by J. M. Coetzee we are introduced to David Lurie, the protagonist and narrator of this novel. David Lurie is a 52 division old divorced part, who lives in Cape Town, South Africa, as a respected romantic poetry professor at a university. His disembodied spirit is full of finish upual, non-committed relationships. afterwards world accused of inappropriate behavior with a student, Lurie loses his job at the university and must move in with his daughter, Lucy, in the country. passim the novel we take heed many references to animals, especially in relation to Lurie.Because he is the narrator of the novel, these animal references lead the reader to believe Lurie is describing himself through these animals. Lurie uses descriptions of animals as a way to pull in how he feels or so himself. We see Lurie go from a sexually charged predator, to a strange woman chaser who has been hunter, to a clink-man, and then ultimately to a helpless dog who is ready to be put ou t of his misery. David Lurie is a predator at the beginning of the novel. He is a man searching for sex, and for the most part he is sure-fire at it.His first sexual interest he introduces us to is Soraya, a prostitute who he has been going to see for a long time. Lurie describes them having sex by comparing them to snakes engaged in intercourse, lengthy, absorbed, but quite an abstract, rather dry, even at its hottest (Coetzee 5 ). Being the narrator, this shows the reader how David views himself, as easy as Soraya, as cold, scary, almost evil, creatures, desire snakes. Snakes give off a very negative emotion because they are dangerous animals, and this comparison leads us to believe David too must be a dangerous animal.Soraya ultimately tries to cut ties with David, but David being the predator he is can non let his forgo go. He is able to find Sorayas inhabitancy ph cardinal be and when he calls her she is livid he would cross that line. But then, what should a predator e xpect when he intrudes into the vixens nest, into the home of her cubs? (Coetzee 10). Soraya is a mother, and feels like David calling her home is going to be a threat to her family, especially her children. The next representative where we see David describing himself as a predator is during his first sexual satisfy with his student, Melanie.David is very persistent in sleeping with Melanie, and once he has finally chased her down he describes the experience as like a rabbit when the jaws of the fox block on its neck (Coetzee 25). He is intimately aware by making this statement that Melanie does not want to be in this situation with him, but he does not care, he has been chasing this object for too to only if let it go. This is not the last time David engages Melanie no matter of her strong reluctance however, and Melanie eventually has enough and reports Lurie to the University where he teaches.David Lurie goes from being the predator, to forthwith being the one who is bei ng chased. He is being chased by the University committee who is investigating Davids indiscretions with Melanie. The committee is described by Lurie as hunters who have cornered a strange beast and do not know how to finish it off. (Coetzee 56). The tables have turned and Lurie is now this strange beast that has been hunted down. David refuses to apologize however, and instead loses his job.Lurie could have simply said defective for his actions and he would have had a chance to keep his position at the University, but in his mind he did not do anything wrong. He compares himself an old neighbors dog, saying that every time a bitch would be in the yard the dog would become so excitable that he could not be controlled. The dog was not allowed to go through with his natural desires, which caused the dog to act strange and just pass on around the garden with its ears flat and its tail between its legs, whining, trying to hide. (Coetzee 69 ). David sees himself in this dog, he is bei ng punished and being told he is not allowed to do something that feels so natural to him. He says that the dog would have like to be picture over being denied its natural urges. David chose to be shot (lose his job) when he refuses to express that he did anything wrong by sleeping with Melanie. After losing his job David must go live with his daughter, Lucy, out in the country.While life sentence with Lucy, David goes through a lot, and through helping take care of her dogs we see a softer side of him through his descriptions of these dogs. The dogs are brought to the clinic because they are unwanted, (Coetzee 146) Lurie says. He cares about the dogs because he too feels unwanted. Well, now he has become a dog-man. (Coetzee 146) David is one with these dogs, abandoned and miserable, unable to live the lives they want to be living. The dogs and David are trap out in the country on a farm just waiting for the kibosh.David finally does give up and we see this through his finale to put down the dog that he had become very close to, Driepoot, the young dog David has come to feel a particular sum for (Coetzee 214-215). David had bonded with Driepoot, even signing his Opera to the dog at one point. He felt sorry for Driepoot, he felt very much like the dog. In the end of the novel, by choosing Driepoot to be put down a (his, the dogs) time must come, it cannot be evaded and carries the dog, the one who likes music (Coetzee 219), to Bev where he will be killed.In the last sentence of the novel David states that he is heavy(a) him up (Coetzee 220), which is essentially David stating the he is the one giving up. Like Driepoot, David Lurie is being put out of his misery. David Luries life goes through dramatic changes throughout the novel Disgrace. A once respected professor, he becomes a afflictive old man who sits among the dogs singing to himself. (Coetzee 218). Lurie uses descriptions of animals as a way to describe how he feels about himself.He goes from a predator whose main focus in life is satisfying his sexual desires, to a man who feels like a strange beast that has been hunted by the University. David then turns to his daughters farm where he begins working with dogs and we see a softer David Lurie, a man who feels like the abandoned dogs who are waiting for their end to come. By the end of Disgrace we see that David is ready to accept his own end, he wants to be put out of his misery just like he does for the dog he has bonded so much with. Works Cited Coetzee, J. M. Disgrace. New York Penguin, 1999. Print.