Coetzee's Disgrace has been criticized by some as racist in its portrayal of South Africa. The setting of the story, the choice of words the writer uses to describe the characters and the place hint of unfair bias in the writing, but the writer is spot on in underscoring the disturbing theme of 'assault on women' as an instrument of power projection.
The woman in the novel, I refrain from writing 'white woman', violated by three men whom she calls 'tax collectors' as if she was their due, and again I refrain from writing black men, is part of the continual narrative of triumph by force that men of unbridled power and corrupt sense are accustomed to, given a free hand to establish their rein.
Surprisingly, the woman does not offer resistance and refrains from naming the culprits, perhaps to remind us of how difficult it is for women of all race, ethnicity and parts of the world to go over the trauma all again.
The boy among the trio, he reminded me of the Juvenile of Nirbhaya case, was there to watch and learn which shows how these men are raised and partly answers why they perform such acts.
The passion, that the protagonist, the father of the woman, indulges into time to time, is another grey area to dwell upon, the moralists will never view it favorably, but at least, it's consensual though not conforming to the code of conduct of the society.
And, he knows when he puts, "It is his disgrace."
And, he knows when he puts, "It is his disgrace."
