Introduction
The novel Disgrace by John Maxwell Coetzee depicts the harsh realities of the so-called “culture of rape” – a culture in which women are often perceived as objects that are to be utilized in order to satisfy the desires of men, the sexual ones in particular. The author tells a story of David Lurie, a university professor who engages in sexual affairs with several women; these women, even though they appear willing to have sex with him, only do that due to certain social circumstances. The situation then becomes reversed as David, having been engaged by the boyfriend of one of his students and former sexual partners, is forced to resign from his university and go to his daughter’s farm. The farm is soon broken into, and Lucy, the daughter, is violated and raped. In fact, the story is mostly focused on the response to this attack (Mardorossian 73). It will be shown that from that point, Lucy tries to deal with her problems on her own, even though she becomes a priority for David to protect; eventually, David expects that Lucy will have to marry a friend of one of the rapists in order to gain protection as his property; Lurie is obviously incapable of defending her in the harsh reality of the sexist culture.
Lucy and her Behavior With Regards to the Rape
When the reader first meets Lucy, she is depicted as a girl who made a choice in favor of the simplicity of village life; she breeds dogs and grows some plants in order to make her living. Lucy seems rather happy with her life and gladly welcomes her home her father, David Lurie, after he had to retire from his university’s job due to his sexual life with his student. However, Lucy’s quiet and simple life is over once her house is broken into by three men who attack her father and rape her. However, David did not witness her being raped, and after the incident, Lucy refuses to talk about the rape or even acknowledge that it took place until much later. To her father’s question about why she refuses to tell the whole story, Lucy only answers: “I have told the whole story. The whole story is what I have told” (Coetzee 47). It is not surprising that David attempts to get Lucy to tell him, and the police, what happened. Yet Lucy only states that “what happened to me is a purely private matter” (Coetzee 48), and that in other circumstances, she might be willing to tell it, but “in this place, at this time,” where “this place” is South Africa, it will not help (Coetzee 48).
Lucy, therefore, decides to deal with what happened to her on her own, more or less. It is clear that she is utterly shaken, debilitated, and traumatized by the rape. However, she is certain that telling the police about the rape will not help her, but will only make matters worse. It might be possible to state that Lucy perfectly understands that women are often regarded as some form of property, and, unless that property belongs to someone, it will not be defended. Consequently, she decides to deal with the psychological and physical trauma herself. It is interesting that, despite this understanding, she refuses to act according to the advice of David Lurie; when he questions her about why she did not have an abortion after the rape, she responds that “I can’t run my life according to whether or not you like what I do. Not any more. You behave as if everything I do is part of the story of your life” (Coetzee 84).
As can be seen, Lucy is a rather strong person who musters her courage in order to face the harsh reality. Even though David tries to protect her, he is obviously incapable of doing so; having realized that, Lucy refuses to act according to his desires – the one refusal that she has enough power to make. It is also possible that she keeps in mind that David is not “clean” himself; he is, in fact, a rapist as well (Graham 443); his statement that he acted according to his “rights of desire” (Coetzee 38) with Melanie, the student he had questionable intercourse with, tells much of him. In any case, it becomes apparent that eventually, to get the needed protection, Lucy will be forced to marry her neighbor, Petrus (who is also a friend of one of Lucy’s rapists), in spite of her being a lesbian, and despite her profoundly negative attitude to that man.
Conclusion
On the whole, it is possible to conclude that Lucy, being a rather strong person, decides to deal with her problems on her own rather than seek the aid of her father, even though he made it a priority to attempt to protect her. It should be observed, however, that David would probably not be able to help her much even despite his determination. Unfortunately, this means that Lucy may be forced to marry her neighbor, a friend of the rapist, in order to obtain protection as his property; this is simply the harsh reality of the culture of rape, where women are perceived as objects for satisfying men’s sexual desires.
Works Cited
Coetzee, John Maxwell. “Disgrace.” Kitabi Karandasla Oxuyanlar, Web.
Graham, Lucy Valerie. “Reading the Unspeakable: Rape in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace.” Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 29, no. 2, 2003, pp. 433-444.
Mardorossian, Carine M. “Rape and the Violence of Representation in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace.” Research in African Literatures, vol. 42, no. 4, 2011, pp. 72-83.