David and his contradictions
As i was reading through part two i tried to pay close attention to David’s contradictions. As i read through the pages in this section, i looked or any note of contradiction and not to my surprise, i found some. The contradiction that drew my attention happened when David had his hearing. During the hearing when the committee asked him to submit a form of statement that included him admitting to the charges and admitting that what he did was wrong, David wanted nothing to do with it. He felt his plea of guilty was enough and was not ready to admit that what he did was wrong or was sorry for it. He even avoids that question from a reporter about whether he is sorry or not. In both these cases, David does not seem remorseful or sorry about what happened but there’s a contradiction that occurs. If you remember in the first section of the reading David talks about how he felt bad for Melanie. How he thought about what she must be going through. It was something that was on his mind when she didn’t show for class or the times she looked upset or distraught. This to me seems to say that he did partially feel bad for what happened and was sorry. I mean the situation ended badly for him and it just seemed like David was trying to act a certain way at the meeting. I don’t truly know if i believe him when he said he didn’t feel like he did anything wrong and when he denied that he was sorry for the whole thing. It may just be me though. Does anyone else feel this way?
Lurie is very complex and confusing. He does not always make sense to the reader, but I think that he always justifies his actions perfectly to himself. Im sure he saw the contradiction is his mind but, at that time his principles were more important to him than Melanie’s feelings. But this is something I am sure we are all guilty of at some point in time. We all justify things to ourselves and then look back on our actions and wonder what the hell we were thinking. Lurie will make more sense to you as you read further. He is amazingly screwed up!
I agree that Lurie is very complex character.
In J. M. Coetzee’ disgrace, every character the reader experiences is filtered through Lurie. Yet access to Lurie’s interior does not produce intimacy so much as it reveals his isolation. This is most apparent in his relationships with women.
The novel opens, “For a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.” His solution to his problem appears to be clear-cut, without any complications. However, as Lurie describes his relationship, we realize that the reason his relationships are so uncomplicated is that Lurie does not allow them to be. He keeps them strictly superficial.
Good point. David is constantly contradicting himself. Melanie and him are both very similar in this way, which makes them both very confusing characters to the reader.They are both a little out there and need to decide where they stand once and for all.
Yeah, Lurie has a difficult character to understand what he actually wants to be. For me, he escapes from his disgrace. He is so selfish!
I agree with you about David not being completely honest with the committee. I think the reason for his pride in that scene was because he was accepting his fate. He knew he was in trouble and he never really enjoyed his job in the first place. He had no passion for it at all, so maybe he didn’t mind losing it. I don’t know if he really felt sorry for doing that to Melanie or not though. I think when he “wondered what she must be going through” he was really just confused because he didn’t understand why she wasn’t showing up for class. He may have believed she had no reason to hide because he didn’t feel like he had raped her.
I actually don’t think he was accepting his fate. I think he rejected the notion that what he did was wrong and because of this his arrogance wouldn’t allow him to have the accusations read aloud to him. He doesn’t care about Melanie and whats she’s going through, he just wondering how she feels about the situation and if she really wanted to press the charges against him. All through the process he is self-justifying and in a state of denial. This is where he had to be so that he could change his way of thinking later.
definitely. He is such a “boy,” trying to be tough and hide his feelings.
I agree with david not being compeletly honest seems like he was just trying to put on an act for them. I think david is very selfish.
Because he used to be a normal professor, teaching students “no disgrace”. Honestly, as I read further through the novel, he is getting contradiction of his old life and new life. He is honest person, but he seems to escape from an ordinary life by doing several unconceivable disgrace things. I also think that he is not a self-judged person ever.