Irony and Love the Center of Disgrace

Disgrace is a novel by J.M. Coetzee, which tells the story about a fifty-two years old professor, David Lurie, who by committing a series of mistakes falls into a profound state of disgrace. The main theme of this book is irony, which can be plainly defined as the outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been expected. Irony is genially employed to create a sense of satire and mystery throughout the novel. Another theme exposed in this book is the presence and absence of love, not only the love to a companion but to everything and everyone else. In this book there is a close relationship between iron and love; however, there are shown many types of irony, and love, and both themes are interlaced carefully within the novel.

There are three kinds of irony, dramatic, situational and verbal, all present in the novel. Dramatic irony is when the reader or audience is aware of something that the characters ignore, thus creating a sense of suspense while the audience waits for the characters to discover what they already know. Situational irony, wildly employed in this novel, is when the opposite of what is expected to happen, happens. Verbal irony occurs when the literal words spoken are used to convey the opposite of the actual meaning of what the speaker is saying. Next to that, there are also different types of love shown and hidden within this novel. First there is the passionate romantic love, Eros, shown to a lover and partner. As well there is the game-playing, uncommitted love, Ludus, mostly given to a casual lover, where sex is the main factor of the relationship without any commitment at all. Then there is the gentle, caring, selfless love, Agape, shown to relatives, other creatures, natures and god.

In this...

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...ys that she is profoundly touched when she does. Lurie, at the same time, says he loves his daughter, however he does judges her sexuality, and the decision she has made of spending her live in the farm, which he calls “poor land”.

J.M. Coetzee filled this novel with irony and what can be called strange demonstrations of love. The use of the varieties of irony by the author as a tool to create satire and suspense was done successfully. Moreover, there is the portrayal of the brands of love among the characters and the unusual way in which it is demonstrated, especially within the main character, David Lurie. Two of the main factors, irony and love, are used together and entwined with one another giving an interesting twist throughout the development of the novel. No one else could have done a better job using irony and love together like Coetzee did in this novel.