Disgrace: David Lurie as Hero

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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 Lurie's 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 and/or glory." (http://global.cscc.edu/engl/264/TragedyLex.htm#GENERAL) J.M. Coetzee uses these standards and deviates slightly from them to create his own modern tragic hero in Disgrace.

The book Disgrace begins by displaying David's lust for women. The first chapter portrays David being with a prostitute named Soraya. After his encounters with Soraya have come to a close David becomes entangled with one of his students. This is what leads to his fall from high standings. David is a professor and is eventually asked to leave his position at the university due to his encounters with Melanie. When David is being asked to apologize for his actions with his student, David does not even consider apologizing. He is prideful and feels that he has done no wrong. Actually he blames his actions of the god of love. David feels he is above the laws of the land and the university he works for through this display of no apologies.

Da...

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...to Lucy. This is the most frustrating for our tragic hero David who wishes to punish him for his bad deeds.

David is our tragic hero and though he does not die in the end of the book, he does seem to give up on life. He is a beaten man in the end. Not only does he forgive Melanie's parents but he decides to let the dog that likes him die. After sleeping with Bev Shaw he realizes this is type of woman he must not be comfortable with. This shows that David has given up pursuing the women he wants to and basically just surrendered or died in essence.

David is a hard character for the reader to understand. His decisions are very rash and selfish causing the reader to hope he will change in the end. Yet in the end of Disgrace David Lurie has given up on life and this symbolizes his death to society. The death to society completes Lurie's journey as a tragic hero.

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