Setting in Disgrace

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A study of setting in Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee: Eastern Cape When reading a text, we cannot use our eyes to directly see what is described, it is rather the readers who have to interpret the text and make his/her own perception. J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace was published in 1999. The novel revolves around the protagonist David Lurie, a professor who loses everything. His disgrace appears for the first time after having an affair with a student called Melanie. The story is set in South Africa post-apartheid, where we follow Lurie from the “white” Cape Town to Salem in the “black” Eastern Cape where his daughter Lucy lives. Disgrace (1999) can be apprehended as an attempt to portray post-apartheid societies and give people comprehension of the situation in different areas during that time. This essay will contain a discussion regarding the way Coetzee describes the environment at Lucy’s smallholding in the Eastern Cape and what significance this has for the story. Clearly, Coetzee wants to structure a picture of the problems that where neglected post-apartheid. It is obvious considering his novel contains countless examples of Africans being less valued than white people, for example in the setting. When Lurie arrives at Lucy’s smallholding it is described as a place where big families lived, presumably Africans. The objects in the house are thoroughly old (Coetzee 59-60). You get this dark and cold feeling about the house, there is no electricity and everything has got to be done by hand, a clear contrast to the city Lurie lived in before. As a reader you probably would want the narrative from Lucy’s perspective since David clearly not has the same feelings about the area, or the way of living, as she does. Throughout the book frustration over the narrative occurs, though it is still interesting. Moreover, the setting in the

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