Disgrace as Racist

Deciding if Disgrace is a racist novel is a thought that plagued my mind before this response question was even presented. When comparing Coetzee’s novel to Heart of Darkness by Conrad, I am inclined and willing myself to say that Disgrace is not a racist book, but I am not able to fully come to that conclusion. As we had mentioned in class when discussing Conrad, we agreed that there is a way to write about racism without being bluntly racist, and I think that Coetzee’s novel is a good example of this. Although a part of me agrees that the book can be interpreted as racist, I am going to argue the opposite in order to present the most likely less supported point of view and so I can be an actual willing volunteer to argue this position in class. =)
Although the novel shows some insistence on darkness, it can be argued that in some situations, race is not well presented in the novel. For example, even though we are told that Melanie has dark hair, we are not told about her skin color. In fact, David’s own race, along with many other characters in the book, is not clearly and/or immediately mentioned. Also, we have described David’s “conquest” of Melanie as a form of power over her, which can represent the white’s power over Africa. In that case, can’t we say something similar in the case of Lucy being raped? Lucy was raped by three African men, the narrator describing the situation as “Not her story to spread but theirs: they are its owners. How they put her in her place, how they showed her what a women was for” (Disgrace, pg 115). The men were able to exert power over Lucy and put her in her place. In this way, the novel shows the African men as having some type of power as well. Some may say that David treats his own sexual assault situation without seriousness or importance, but he see’s Lucy’s rape by the African men as a dire situation because she was raped by black men. Let us think about this differently. His own daughter was raped…regardless of the race of the attackers, the situation would be dire to any respectable father. Furthermore, a woman who was raped would feel like a disgrace in any case, not just because she was raped by black men. Didn’t Melanie feel this way? Lucy didn’t want to show her face at the market and Melanie didn’t want to show her face at school. The man who harassed Melanie was not black.
It can be said that David shows traits of racism with Petrus by accusing him of harboring a murderer, but if we look through the novel, David has reasons not based on race for his suspicion and dislike of Petrus. During a conversation between David and Petrus, David is talking to Petrus about the invaders. “I am convinced they knew about Lucy. How could they have known if they were complete strangers to the district…Petrus chooses not to take this question.” (Disgrace, pg 119). This along with future instances of Petrus’ involvement with the three men can be what provoke David’s negative feelings towards Petrus. It is not that Petrus is black, it is that Petrus knows something about his daughter’s attack, a situation that would cause tension regardless of race.
David Lurie grows attached to the animals so it may be interpreted that he treats the dogs better then the black people, but why wouldn’t David treat the dogs nicely. People tend to get attached to their animals, and I would personally treat my dog just the same. It is not David’s place to be going around being a savoir to strangers just because their black and if he doesn’t then he is seen as racist.