From the very beginning of the novel, David Lurie is presented most disgustingly as a man who lacks respect for women and goes on to quickly exploit them. Within the first several pages, we discover that David has been divorced twice, sleeps with prostitutes, has affairs with married women and coworkers, and furthermore pursuits to sexually harass his own students. His status as a white male professor, of modest income, grants him with a variety of privileges, that he uses to his advantage. His relationship with Soraya, a prostitute, is purely a physical one. Soraya is illustrated as a married mother of two, who most likely resorts to prostitution as a needed source of income. David, as a man of modest income, takes advantage of this, "For a ninety minute session he pays her R400, of which half goes to Discreet Escorts". (2) After his relationship ends with Soraya, he has a fling with another prostitute named Soraya. Unsatisfied, he pursuits another relationship with a new secretary within his department named Dawn. This ends badly, "It is a failure...he drives her back to campus". (9) As if he hasn't had enough sex, he notices one of his students named Melanie, "It is no great matter: barely a term passes when he does not fall for one or other of his charges. Cape Town: a city prodigal of beauty, of beauties" (12). Although David knows better, he stalks her and eventually has sex with her several times without her approval, "Not rape, not quite that, but undesired nevertheless, undesired to the core" (25).
Earlier within the novel, David merely objectifies women, "a woman's beauty does not belong to her alone. It is part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it" (16). In objectifying woman, he is disregarding their thoughts, emotions, and intellect. He thinks nothing of women, except of the pleasure they give to men. However, throughout the novel, David's perspective gradually experiences change. When David visits his daughter Lucy, he is shown as a caring, sensitive, and overprotective father. He is proud of what his daughter has accomplished as an independant strong willed woman . Even more so, he acknowledges that his daughter Lucy is a lesbian and claims that it is unnecessary for a woman to seek out the company of a man, "in each he recognizes a statement of independence, considered, purposeful. The turn away from men too. Making her own life. Coming out of his shadow. Good! He approves!" David's attitude towards woman has gone through a drastic change. He is shown respecting Lucy, not only as his daughter, but as a woman.
After the incident of the three men breaking into Lucy's home, robbing most of their belongings including David's car, and beating him up, let alone putting him on fire, David's only concern is Lucy. He is completely outraged at these men for what they have done to Lucy, " I want those men to be caught and brought before the law and punished" and "a flurry of anger runs through him...violation...yes it was a violation...yes, it was an outrage" (119). Earlier within the novel, David took advantage of woman, he exploited them on the basis of his own desires. When he was convicted he did not plead guilty, but instead expressed his need to fulfill and justify his own desires as he became a servant of Eros. As the tables turned, his own daughter had been taken advantage of and made the victim, the exploited. Similarly, these men justified their actions on the notion of desire. They too, were "enriched by the experience"(56) as David was.
Upset, David realizes the irony within the situation, but instead of showing regret for his actions, he thinks "How they put her in her place, how they showed her what a woman was for" (115). This line demonstrates that although David has changed, he has not changed completely. While acknowledging the wrong implied by men in unjustly taking advantage of women, David still believes that women are objects. He does not insist how these men tried to put her in her place and show her what she was for, considering all that Lucy did: moving on with her life, overcoming this obstacle. Instead he emphasizes the fact that she is a woman and how this has made her vulnerable that perhaps living alone on a farm is no longer a good idea, "What are our plans?...to go back to the farm...and then?...then to go on as before...be sensible Lucy. Things have changed.We cant just pick up where we left...why not?...because it's not safe" (105).
Throughout the novel David changes in a variety of ways to a range of degrees. His different attitude towards women echos one of these changes. Slowly throughout the novel, we as readers can gradually start to understand David and even more so, slightly begin to appreciate him for his struggles. In coming to terms with himself, his identity and his life, we realize that he is merely human. Like us he is imperfect.
Earlier within the novel, David merely objectifies women, "a woman's beauty does not belong to her alone. It is part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it" (16). In objectifying woman, he is disregarding their thoughts, emotions, and intellect. He thinks nothing of women, except of the pleasure they give to men. However, throughout the novel, David's perspective gradually experiences change. When David visits his daughter Lucy, he is shown as a caring, sensitive, and overprotective father. He is proud of what his daughter has accomplished as an independant strong willed woman . Even more so, he acknowledges that his daughter Lucy is a lesbian and claims that it is unnecessary for a woman to seek out the company of a man, "in each he recognizes a statement of independence, considered, purposeful. The turn away from men too. Making her own life. Coming out of his shadow. Good! He approves!" David's attitude towards woman has gone through a drastic change. He is shown respecting Lucy, not only as his daughter, but as a woman.
After the incident of the three men breaking into Lucy's home, robbing most of their belongings including David's car, and beating him up, let alone putting him on fire, David's only concern is Lucy. He is completely outraged at these men for what they have done to Lucy, " I want those men to be caught and brought before the law and punished" and "a flurry of anger runs through him...violation...yes it was a violation...yes, it was an outrage" (119). Earlier within the novel, David took advantage of woman, he exploited them on the basis of his own desires. When he was convicted he did not plead guilty, but instead expressed his need to fulfill and justify his own desires as he became a servant of Eros. As the tables turned, his own daughter had been taken advantage of and made the victim, the exploited. Similarly, these men justified their actions on the notion of desire. They too, were "enriched by the experience"(56) as David was.
Upset, David realizes the irony within the situation, but instead of showing regret for his actions, he thinks "How they put her in her place, how they showed her what a woman was for" (115). This line demonstrates that although David has changed, he has not changed completely. While acknowledging the wrong implied by men in unjustly taking advantage of women, David still believes that women are objects. He does not insist how these men tried to put her in her place and show her what she was for, considering all that Lucy did: moving on with her life, overcoming this obstacle. Instead he emphasizes the fact that she is a woman and how this has made her vulnerable that perhaps living alone on a farm is no longer a good idea, "What are our plans?...to go back to the farm...and then?...then to go on as before...be sensible Lucy. Things have changed.We cant just pick up where we left...why not?...because it's not safe" (105).
Throughout the novel David changes in a variety of ways to a range of degrees. His different attitude towards women echos one of these changes. Slowly throughout the novel, we as readers can gradually start to understand David and even more so, slightly begin to appreciate him for his struggles. In coming to terms with himself, his identity and his life, we realize that he is merely human. Like us he is imperfect.
You make a valid point in your third paragraph when you suggest that the men who raped Lucy were as enriched by the experience as David had been when he raped Melanie. This brings up the possibility that both actions can be justified with the same reasoning: it was desire. However, David does not seem to think that his experience is equivalent to the other mens' and you do a nice job explaining this irony. I agree that David has changed only to some "degree", as you put it, because while he no longer groups all women into the same category, he still yearns for Melanie for sexual reasons.
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