Introduction
As one among the most prominent South African authors, J. M. Coetzee’s work gives a post-modern engagement to his readers. The underlying theme is the effect of the expansionist European process and its ultimate dissolution that resulted in the independence of these countries. His writing style appears allegorical and his work shows his preference for open-mindedness and sudden truncations and interventions by the author. He implements numerous literary devices in his book Disgrace such as symbolism, setting, tone, point of view and writing style (Behr 15).
Symbolism
In Disgrace, man’s best friend plays a pivotal role, mostly when David relocates to the country. Superficially, they are characters in the book as there are several …show more content…
After David finally moves to the Eastern Cape, he leaves the city and travels from a place that offers him security to one with years of racial segregation and oppressed inhabitants. Regardless of the fact that there are very few mentions of race in the book, there focus on the dynamics of power is immense.
Tone
The tone in Disgrace detached and also quite straightforward and contains commentary on the side. During instances providing a high level of tension, the narrator disassociates himself but reports to the reader exactly what David perceives. The reader learns what David thinks, hears, sees and feels such as when the tall man murders every dog, “There is a heavy report; blood and brains splatter the cage. For a moment, the barking ceases. The man fires twice more" (Coetzee 91).
From the above scene, the reader can mentally experience the occurrences although Coetzee utilizes a detached tone to enable the perception. Regardless of this eruditeness, the book assumes a gloomy and mysterious quality. The depressed mood is expected, bearing in mind the gravity of the events narrated in the …show more content…
Coetzee is the third person who narrates the story and as such, he fails to participate in any of the activities. Nevertheless, he seems to exist in David’s mind. The third person narrator appears to understand David’s entire story including details such as his feelings, his desires, thoughts and concerns.
Coetzee tries to show the difference that exists between what he says David is thinking and the actual thoughts passing through David’s mind. Coetzee achieves this by italicizing David’s thoughts. However, even the italics fail to create a significant difference as the reader feels that he or she is inside David’s mind from the beginning to the conclusion. The thoughts taking place in the spirit of the other characters remain unknown to the reader because the entire novel is based on David’s perspective despite the fact that he is not the one telling the story (Williams 250-260).
Writing
As one among the most prominent South African authors, J. M. Coetzee’s work gives a post-modern engagement to his readers. The underlying theme is the effect of the expansionist European process and its ultimate dissolution that resulted in the independence of these countries. His writing style appears allegorical and his work shows his preference for open-mindedness and sudden truncations and interventions by the author. He implements numerous literary devices in his book Disgrace such as symbolism, setting, tone, point of view and writing style (Behr 15).
Symbolism
In Disgrace, man’s best friend plays a pivotal role, mostly when David relocates to the country. Superficially, they are characters in the book as there are several …show more content…
After David finally moves to the Eastern Cape, he leaves the city and travels from a place that offers him security to one with years of racial segregation and oppressed inhabitants. Regardless of the fact that there are very few mentions of race in the book, there focus on the dynamics of power is immense.
Tone
The tone in Disgrace detached and also quite straightforward and contains commentary on the side. During instances providing a high level of tension, the narrator disassociates himself but reports to the reader exactly what David perceives. The reader learns what David thinks, hears, sees and feels such as when the tall man murders every dog, “There is a heavy report; blood and brains splatter the cage. For a moment, the barking ceases. The man fires twice more" (Coetzee 91).
From the above scene, the reader can mentally experience the occurrences although Coetzee utilizes a detached tone to enable the perception. Regardless of this eruditeness, the book assumes a gloomy and mysterious quality. The depressed mood is expected, bearing in mind the gravity of the events narrated in the …show more content…
Coetzee is the third person who narrates the story and as such, he fails to participate in any of the activities. Nevertheless, he seems to exist in David’s mind. The third person narrator appears to understand David’s entire story including details such as his feelings, his desires, thoughts and concerns.
Coetzee tries to show the difference that exists between what he says David is thinking and the actual thoughts passing through David’s mind. Coetzee achieves this by italicizing David’s thoughts. However, even the italics fail to create a significant difference as the reader feels that he or she is inside David’s mind from the beginning to the conclusion. The thoughts taking place in the spirit of the other characters remain unknown to the reader because the entire novel is based on David’s perspective despite the fact that he is not the one telling the story (Williams 250-260).
Writing