Disgrace Race And Gender

Race and gender are defining factors in many cultures. No matter which race, whiteness is viewed as superior to black while parallelly, society privileges men over women. In the years shortly following the end of apartheid in Africa, long held racial sentiments proved to run very deep as people continued to subjugate others based on the color of one’s skin and women continued to be oppressed by men. J.M. Coetzee heavily accentuates the role that race and gender play in his novel Disgrace though the use of Davie Lurie living as a white male in post-apartheid Africa. This tumultuous period has been described by others as “interracial, intersexual, and intergenerational: black against white, men against women” (Coleman 599). Coetzee’s use

When David has sex with Melanie whom he calls “the dark one,” he tells himself that it is “Not rape, not quite that, but undesired nevertheless, undesired to the core” (Coetzee 25). While David says it is not rape, the line “die within herself for the duration” suggests otherwise (Coetzee 25). If the sexual encounter was undesired and Melanie felt like she was dying, there is no other way to see it than as rape. While this is indeed a rape that takes place, instead of the case being reported to the police as it should be, the school instead holds a hearing where the severest penalty possible would be David losing his job. This is completely different from the way that David treats Lucy’s rape by the three black men. Right away, David says, “I must telephone the police” after he emerges from the bathroom and sees Lucy (Coetzee 98). Since this novel takes place in the years recently following the end of apartheid in Africa, with racial tensions very high it is clear that the three men would face charges much harsher than the penalties David was faced with of simply losing his job. These men could even face death for what they did. While Lucy refuses to take it to the police, David wants word to get out about the rape which is ironic given he wanted to silence the implications of his own

During the trial, David’s colleagues say to him after he continuously pleads guilty that “We around this table are not your enemies. We have our weak moments, all of us, we are only human. Your case in not unique. We would like to find a way for you to continue with your career” (Coetzee 52). Here, David’s colleagues essentially offer him a way out of his charges and even suggest a way so David doesn’t lose his job. They try to console him and understand his position by saying that they are humans too, bringing the idea that this sexual encounter is common enough to happen to any one of them. It is shocking that David is let off so easy for his crimes and the reason for this leniency is that he is a white man who raped a black woman. This attitude towards rape is completely opposite when looking at Lucy’s rape by the three black men as there is no justification offered to explain the reasons for the crime. These men are seen as savage and inhumane. David having the mind of a superior white male does not stop to remember that these men are “humans” with “weak moments” but instead distances himself from their crimes by filling himself with a pure hatred. David does not attempt to understand their reasons of why they raped his daughter even though these considerations