Disgrace David Lurie as Hero Essay - 802 Words

Who could ever confuse David Lurie, from the book Disgrace, to be a hero? Heroes never selfishly think of their own personal desires before others. David Luries character flaws of selfishness and lust would fit him into the mold of a tragic hero. David continually lusts women causing him to be no typical hero. A tragic hero can be a hero yet have some type of character flaw that brings him down. Therefore David is considered a tragic hero. In Shakespearean literature the use of a tragic hero has set standards. The Tragic story leads up, and includes the death of the hero. The suffering and calamity are exceptional. They are themselves of a striking kind. They are as a rule, unexpected. They are contrasted with previous happiness†¦show more content†¦We see throughout Disgrace that David tries to help his daughter who he seems to care greatly about. Not only does he help her but he seems to enjoy helping Lucy. Supposedly Lucy and David had a great relationship as Lucy grew up. Yet David tries to control Lucy just as he tries to control all women in the book. David seems to believe that women are his to control and do anything he wants to. When David goes to live with Lucy he has good intentions to get away from the university and spend time on his Byron play. Yet as he stays there he goes through quite an ordeal of disgrace along with his daughter. His daughter is raped and David is hurt and burned by robbers. The robbers even steal Davids car forcing him to stay at Lucys longer. This is the part in the book that we start to see Davids flaw of selfishness come out again. He wants to confront Lucy and tell her to get checked out by a physician and if she is pregnant to abort. Yet Lucy and David never really have this conversation until it is too late and Lucy is pregnant. They fight several times over the issue always ending with David biting his tongue and allowing Lucy to do as she wishes. I dont agree with what you are doing(Coetzee, 112). So says David in his disapproval of her actions to not report the rape to the police. After the rape incident David becomes very selfish and this turns off Lucy to feeling any affection towards him. David wantsShow MoreRelatedDisgrace, by J.M Coetzee Essay951 Words   |  4 Pages Disgrace was written in 1999 by author J.M Coetzee. Born in South Africa in 1940, Coetzee grew up during apartheid, something that has tinged his writing to a great extent (Nobelprize.org). Disgrace is set in a post-apartheid Cape Town where the protagonist David Lurie is forced to terminate his job after Melanie, a student, files a sexual abuse claim against him. In this essay I will explore how David Luries own view on masculinity is affected by his idolization of Lord Byron, and how this allowsRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of David Luries Theme Of Disgrace819 Words   |  4 PagesDisgrace is set in a post-apartheid Cape Town. 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