CHARACTERS AND THEME ANALYSIS

IN J.M. COETZEE NOVEL DISGRACE

A thesis
Submitted to the Letters and Humanities Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Strata 1 (S1)

Written by:
NURILAH ARIANI
NIM. 202026001102

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

LETTERS AND HUMANITIES FACULTY
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA

2010

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my
knowledge and believe, it contains no material previously published or written by
another person nor material which to a substantial extend has been accepted for
the award for any other degree of diploma of the university or other institute of
higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text.

Jakarta, June 2010

NURILAH ARIANI

iv

LEGALIZATION

Name : Nurilah Ariani

NIM

: 202026001102

Title

: Characters and Theme Analysis in J.M. Coetzee Novel Disgrace

The thesis has been defended before the Letters and Humanities Facultys
Examination Committee on June 03 2010, the thesis has already been accepted as
a partial fulfillment of the requirement for Strata One Degree (S1)

Jakarta, June 2010

The Examining Committee

Name

Signature

Date

1. Dr. H.M. Farkhan, M.Pd

NIP. 19650919 200003 1 002

(Chair Person)

________

_______

2. Drs. A. Saefuddin,M.Pd
NIP. 19640710 199304 1 006

(Secretary)

________

_______

3. Inayatul Chusna, M.Hum

NIP. 19780126 200312 2 002

(Advisor)

________

_______

4. Elve Oktafiyani, M.Hum

NIP. 19781003 200112 2 002

(Examiner I)

________

_______

5. Sholikhatus Sadiyah, M. Pd
NIP. 19750417 200501 2 007

(Examiner II)

________

_______

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL .............................................................................................................i
LEGALIZATION ....................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................................iii
DECLARATION......................................................................................................iv
AKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................vii
CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study......................................................1
B. The Focus of the Study.........................................................5
C. The Research Questions .......................................................5
D. Methodology of Research ....................................................6

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Character ..............................................................................8
1. Main and Supporting Character ...................................8
2. Protagonist and Antagonist ...........................................9
B. Characterization ...................................................................9
C. Theme...................................................................................14

CHAPTER III

RESEARCH FINDING
A. Data Description...................................................................16
1. Main Character .........................................................16
2. Supporting Characters ..............................................17

vii

B. The Characteristics in Disgrace............................................17

1. David Lurie...............................................................20
2. Lucy Lurie ................................................................24
3. Petrus ........................................................................26
C. Theme...................................................................................28
CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion............................................................................33
B. Suggestion ............................................................................34

BIBLIOGRAFY .......................................................................................................35
APPENDICIES ........................................................................................................37

viii

ABSTRACT

Nurilah Ariani, Character and Theme Analysis in J.M. Coetzee Novel

Disgrace, English Letters Department, Civilization and Humanities Faculty,
State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah, Jakarta 2010.

This research is aimed at finding out the characters and the theme of the
novel Disgrace. The writer uses descriptive qualitative analysis as the method to
analyze the characters and the theme of the novel. The writer employs herself to
collect the data by reading the novel and marking them.
In this analysis the writer finds out that the main character of the novel is
David Lurie. The supporting characters are Lucy Lurie and Petrus. As main
character David Lurie is a lover of women, arrogant and anti hero. Lucy Lurie is
stubborn and imprudent. Petrus is hard worker, loyal to his family and he is a
good neighbor. The theme of this novel is the superiority and inferiority of white
and black is a constructed ideology. This position is actually interchangeable
where black can also rules and white can be marginalized. The ending of the
novel, David become an assistant of Bev Shaw, a volunteer in animal clinic The
Animal Welfare League. Lucy becomes third wife of Petrus, and Petrus owns
Lucys farming land emphasize the changing of racial social position.

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the name of Allah the Lord of universe, the Most Gracious, the Most
Merciful, the writer would like to thank to Allah for His favor and guidance to the
writer in completing this thesis. The writer does believe there is nothing the writer
can do without His help. May peace and salutation be upon our prophet
Muhammad SAW, his families, companions, and his followers.
In this occasion, the writer would like to express her gratitude to her
family, especially to her beloved mother and father for their struggle of growing
her up, educating, inspiring, empowering, leading, and supporting her until this
time.
Special thank is also dedicated to Ms. Inayatul Chusna, M. Hum, as the
advisor, for her guidance, patience, and advice in supervising the writer to
accomplish this thesis.
The writer also likes to expresses the deepest gratitude to those who help
her finishing this thesis:
1. Dr. H. Wahid Hasyim, M. Ag, the Dean of Adab and Humanities Faculty.
2. Dr. H. Muhammad Farkhan, M.Pd., the Head of English Letters
Department.
3. Drs. Asep Saefuddin, M. Pd., the Secretary of English Letters Department.

4. All lectures of English Letters Department for having taught and inspired
her during her study at the university.
5. The library staff of main library of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, the
library staff of English Letters Department, for their kindness during the
writer finding of references.
6. The writers sister and brother in law for always giving supports and love.
7. The writer best friends: Edi, Fajar, Pai, Tri and Via for giving motivations
and supports in finishing this thesis.
Finally the writer hopes that this thesis will be useful for the writer herself
and for those who are interested in literary research. May Allah SWT always bless
and protect all of you.

Jakarta, June 2010

The writer

vi

Summary of the novel

David Lurie is a Communications professor at Cape Town Technical
University. He has been twice divorced, has one child, and currently spends ninety
minutes of his Thursday afternoons with a prostitute named Soraya. After David
crosses the line by phoning Soraya at her home, he turns to one of his students to
fulfill his desires. David first notices Melanie in the university gardens and invites
her to his home for wine and dinner. David does not stop his pursuits there
however. Over the weekend, he travels to campus and uses the University's
records to find her address and phone number. Startled at his call, Melanie agrees
to have lunch with him. They return to his house and have sex on the living room
floor. Young Melanie is passive throughout the majority of the act but David on
the other hand attains sensory overload and falls asleep on top of her. The very
next afternoon David arrives at Melanie's flat, pushes her in and carries her to the
bed. She does not resist and asks him to leave after he is finished because her
cousin is coming. She misses the mid-term the next day and arrives at his house
sobbing that night needing a place to stay. Soon after, Melanie's boyfriend pays
the professor a visit and events begin to snowball. Melanie withdraws from all her
classes and a sexual harassment case is filed again Professor David.
The investigation unfolds like a criminal trial with the judges being his
colleagues on the committee. With Melanie's testimony already given, and with
the press as well as activist groups are waiting outside, Lurie is given the
opportunity to feign remorse and pledge to seek treatment; however, he refuses to
be a spectacle. He is given no grace and is fired. His only comment to the press is
that he was "enriched" by the experience.
A social outcast, David visits his daughter, Lucy, on her farm in Salem.
The first days are slow as he adjusts to country life but he soon finds plenty to
occupy his time as he volunteers at an animal shelter and helps the farm-hand,
Petrus. Although both her parents are professionals, Lucy has turned to the rural
life and lives by selling the crops she has raised on the weekends and running a
small kennel.
The peace of the country does not last for long. As Lucy and David are
taking some of the dogs for a walk, they encounter three Africans on the road who
ask to use their phone. Lucy makes the mistake of putting the dogs up in the
kennel and within moments the men have taken Lucy into the house and locked
the door behind them. For moments, David is unable to get inside and protect his
daughter. When he finally does get into the kitchen he is knocked unconscious by
a blow to the head. Lucy is taken into a back room and raped by the three men.
Before they leave, the robbers shoot the dogs in the kennel, ransack the house, set
David on fire, and steal his car. Lucy seeks help from one of her neighbors to call
the police and gets her father to the hospital to treat his burns. For the night, they
stay with the Bev Shaws, who are friends of Lucy and run the animal shelter
David volunteers at. Upon return to the farm the next day, they are able to access
the damage. The house is ransacked and all but one dog must be buried. Lucy
reports to the police officer the stolen property and her father's assault, but says
nothing about the rape.
Lucy goes through a period of depression after the attack. Since she barely
leaves her bed, her father picks up a lot of the work around the house and is busy

from sun up to sun down. Each time David tries to talk to his daughter about the
incident she either evades his questions or gives him a sharp reply. David is
enraged because the culprits have not been caught and Lucy fears that they may
come back. David however does not believe the robbery was simply an
unfortunate event. He finds it suspicious that Lucy's farm-hand, Petrus, was no
where to be found until a couple of days after the robbery. When Petrus returns,
he is wearing a new suit and has bought building supplies for his house. David
believes Petrus intentionally left the house unprotected so that it could be robbed.
When Petrus invites Lucy and David to a party to celebrate his new acquisition of
land, Lucy comes face to face with the one of her attackers, a mentally disturbed
young man named Pollux. Pollux is related to Petrus' wife. David immediately
wants to call the police and have him arrested, but Lucy refuses and returns home.
Petrus meanwhile makes progress with his land. He has borrowed a
tractor, plowed the land, and remodeled his home. Petrus' wife is expecting a
child, and Pollux has come to live with them. After a false alarm that Davids car
had been recovered by the police, he confronts his daughter about the future. From
his perspective, she has little other option than to move. It is unsafe for a woman
to live alone on the farm unprotected, and Petrus cannot be trusted. He offers to
send her to Holland, where her biological mother lives, with the money he
receives from selling his house. Lucy is not receptive to this idea at all. She is
determined to stay in Salem. Marking a breaking point in their father-daughter
relationship, she writes him a note saying, "I cannot be a child for ever. You
cannot be a father forever. I know you mean well, but you are not the guide I
need, not at this time (161)."
David returns to Cape Town, and on his way back he stops in George to
visit Mr. Isaacs and clearly uncomfortable, but Mr. Isaacs finally gets what he is
seeking: an apology. When David returns to his house in Cape Town, he finds it
has been robbed and vandalized. He returns to his office and finds his replacement
at his desk. For a while, David tries to get his opera on Byron off the ground but
comes to an impasse. Life back in Cape Town is not the same; he finds he is an
outcast. After being given an update on Melanie by his ex-wife Rosalind, David
decides to see Melanie perform in a play. During the play, Melanie's boyfriend
sees David in the audience and harasses him, telling him to stick with his own
kind.
David stays in contact with Lucy by phone, but senses that she is not
telling him everything. After an ambiguous conversation with Bev Shaw, David
decides to visit his daughter. Lucy is pregnant from the rape and has made a
conscious decision to keep the child. David is shocked because he believed she
had taken all precautions after the incident. Once more, he offers her an escape,
but she will not run. Lucy decides her own course of action. She will sign over her
land to Petrus (marrying him in a contractual sense) in exchange for protection
and the right to remain in her house. Resigned, Lurie rents a room in Grahmstown
to help his daughter at the market once a week and to dedicate himself to the
disposal of the dogs' bodies at the shelter.

Apartheid
In Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, the term apartheid means the
former political system in South Africa in which only white people had full
political rights and other people, especially black people, were forced to live away
from white people, go to separate schools, etc.
South Africa is a multicultural society. However, before the 1994
transition to democracy little account was taken of the multiethnic, multilingual,
and multicultural nature of South Africa society. Indeed, the state catered almost
exclusively to the White, Christian, Afrikaans, patriarchal minority. It is not
surprisingly, therefore, that South Africa was a highly polarized and divided
society. Many people had been dispossessed of their land, had had their language
and cultures marginalized, and had suffered gross human rights violations. The
majority of South Africa were denied access to an enormous variety of amenities,
institutions, and opportunities, including many places and types of employment,
particularly in state institution. Divisions existed between Black and White but
there were also divisions based on ethnicity, class, culture, religion, and language,
which apartheid specifically accentuated.
The population registration Act of 1950 divided all South Africans into
Blacks, Indians, Coloureds, and Whites and subsequent apartheid legislation was
based on these categories. Blacks account for approximately 75% of the
population.
The terms Blacks, Coloured, Indian, and White were the four racial groups
that South Africans were divided into during Apartheid in terms of the Population
Registration Act of 1950. Black refers to indigenous South Africans origin whose
ancestors came from Africa. White refers to people of Caucasian origin who
forebears came mostly from Europe from the 17th century onward. Coloured refers
to people of mixed race origin, that is, descendents of both White and Black
people. Indian refers to people who are descendents of the Indian community that
arrived in the 1860s to work on the sugar plantations.
When the National Party came to power in 1948 it began the
institutionalization of apartheid. General laws entrenching White supremacy were
enacted in quick succession. In 1953, the Buntu Education Act took Black
education away form mission churches and gave it to the state. The act further
entrenched the separate and unequal systems of education in South Africa.
According to Dr. Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, the education system in
place before the coming to power of his party had been misleading by showing
Black green pastures of European society in which they are not allowed to graze.
In the late 1980s, apartheid began to crumble due to international as well
as domestic pressure. On February 2, 1990, the President F.W. de Klerk set in
motion the process that would lead to democratization 4 years later and the
reincorporation of the Black homelands into South Africa.
One of the project themes of the negotiation process was the need to
provide protection for minorities and the crucial debate was whether this should
occur in terms of group rights or individual rights. The fear was that without the
protection afforded by a bill of rights, unrestrained majoritarianism could harm
minorities or members of minority groups and that therefore a check on the power
of the majority was essential.

CHARACTER AND THEME ANALYSIS

IN J.M. COETZEE NOVEL DISGRACE

A thesis
Submitted to the Letters and Humanities Faculty
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Strata 1 (S1)

By:

NURILAH ARIANI
NIM. 202026001102

Approved by
Advisor

Inayatul Chusna, M.Hum

NIP. 150.331.233

ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LETTERS AND HUMANITIES
THE STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
JAKARTA
2010
i

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

The discrimination based on race or racism existed to be a hundred years ago
but the word of racism 1 itself was used in the late of 1930s. 2 Historically,
Frederickson, in Rasisme: Sejarah Singkat, divided history of racism in three period;
middle ages racism, modern racism and 21st century racism. Middle ages racism
began with anti Judaism in the early of Christian society. Anti Judaism appeared
when the Jews resisted the Christian hegemony of their belief and culture. Modern
racism grew in the idea of scientific Enlightment. Modern racism was based on
physical typology. It began when Carl Linnaeus, naturalist Sweden, put the human
into a species in genus primate and try to separate that species into several varieties,
such as the discrimination between European with African, American Indian and
Asian. Then the 21st century racism began with the clash of Western civilization and
Islam.
The construct of race were based on the idea that white people were superior
and colored people, especially black people, were inferior. 3 This construction of
white people were superior over the other race, made a conception which then known

Racism is a form of discrimination based on race, especially the belief that one race is
superior to another. Racism may be expressed individually and consciously, through explicit thoughts,
feelings, or acts, or socially and unconsciously, through institutions that promote inequality between
races.
2
Frederickson, M. George, Rasisme: Sejarah Singkat, (Yogyakarta, Bentang Pustaka, 2005),
p. 8
3
www.psychology.ciu.edu/topic/racism.htm (retrieved on Sept 25th, 2006)

as white supremacy. 4 White supremacy is sometimes used in a more limited sense to

indicate a philosophical belief that whites are not only superior to others, but should
rule over them. 5 So, white supremacists believe that different race ought to live
together in the same society and the white race ought to rule the other races.
In Middle Ages European society, which was white society, using religion to
construct Black people. European believes that the Africans were black and they were
descendant of Ham sons of Noah who cursed by God because peep at his father
when he was drunk and undressed. As a cursed descendant by God, Black considered
worth to be slave. 6
The concept of race also present slavery as a moral institution understood in
America in 1850s. As a Sen Toombs of Georgia said:
"The white is the superior race, and the black the inferior; and
subordination, with or without law, will be the status of the African in this
mixed society; and, therefore, it is in the interest of both, and especially of
the black race, and of the whole society, that this status should be fixed,
controlled, and protected by law." 7
The concept of white racism or implied superiority over the other races also
appears in several conceptions such as the concept of Nazi dogma Hitlers ideas of
race belief on lighter skinned people descendant from Aryan, colonialism, racism
and also discrimination. Henceforth the concept of superiority over the other races
was often used as a moral excuse for slavery or colonialism by Western Europeans.

White supremacy is a racist ideology which holds that the white race is superior to other

5
6

www.wikipedia.com/supremacy.htm (retrieved on Oct 10th, 2006)

Frederickson, M. George, Rasisme: Sejarah Singkat, (Yogyakarta, Bentang Pustaka, 2005),

The view from the South, www.etymonline.com/cw/dixie.htm (retrieved on Oct 10th, 2006)

race.

p. 39

The ideology of race or white supremacy is now a part of a global ideology,

hegemony 8 , not only in social and cultural but also in everyday individual behavior.
Individuals who identify themselves as white and individuals who identify
themselves as person of colored can be classified into race construction. The
individual racist believes that his/her own race is superior over the other race and
behaves in way to maintain his/her superiority over the perceived inferior position.
Discrimination in hiring (e.g. John refuses to hire Mary because she is of race Y), 9 be
little to someone else and name calling (such as Negro or nigger for black people or
Afro American) are examples of racist behavior.
As Edward Said said that before the West control the East in physical,
political and military, the West firstly control the East in cultural. 10 And culture
plays important role for white people to dominate colored. Literature as part of
culture is used to counter the white hegemony. Through literature colored people
speak for their minority throughout the couplets poem. They can also speak for the
authors opinion or view from their article.
Many of Western literature confirm the concept that West is superior
and East is inferior. But there is a text from South Africa which contrasts with that.
One of the authors who write the relation between whites and colored (especially
black) is John Maxwell Coetzee better known as J.M. Coetzee, was born in South
Africa on February 9th, 1940. He has received many achievements in literature, even
8

Hegemony is the dominance of one group over the other groups, with or without the threat
of force, to the next extent that, for instance, the dominant party can dictate the terms of trade to its
advantage; more broadly, cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant groups.
9
Racism, www.ebroadcast.com.au/lookup/encyclopedia/racism.html (retrieved on Jan 6th,
2007)
10
www.irib.ir/worldservice/november2005/orientalism.htm (retrieved on Nov 4th, 2006)

in his own country or abroad, and from the world literature institutions. He has
achieved Central News Agency (CNA) three times in South Africa 1978, 1980, and
1983. He is the only South Africans writer who achieves Booker Price twice for his
work Life and Times of Michael K and Disgrace. And he earned the Noble Prize of
literature in 2003. 11 One of Coetzees literary works is Disgrace novel published in
1999. Coetzee is a South African author who represents the political situation and
political conflict between blacks and whites in pre and post apartheid. 12 Disgrace
deals with the situation of whites in South Africa and the way it changing.
Disgrace is a novel which is closely linked with the social condition of white
society set in post Apartheid South Africa of the 1990s. Disgrace tells about two
white persons, David Lurie and his daughter Lucy, who live closely with Petrus (a
black South African) and has direct interaction with social life of South Africas
society. David Lurie is a man of fifty-two years old, who teaches Communications
and Romantic poets at the Technical University. He is fired for sexual harassment
after having an affair with one of his students. David Lurie confesses guilty but
refuses to apologize it. Then David Lurie decides to stay with his daughter, Lucy,
who kennels dogs and raises flowers at smallholding in the Eastern Cape. For a while
their lives look peaceful but then three black strangers, two men and a boy, who
arrive on the farm, attacked them. They shoot Lucys dogs, set fire on David and steal
their car. They also raped Lucy, and she is pregnant as the result of the raped. As

11
12

www.amconmag.com/article2.html (retrieved on Sept 9th, 2006)

www.lrb.co.uk (retrieved on Sept 9th, 2006)

white people, David Lurie and Lucy, have to follow all the social rules in society
where the power of whites has been reduced.
White supremacy indeed can be said as a part of a global ideology. As being
said before that many Western literatures shows the domination of Western people
than colored people, in the case is black people. Disgrace is a text from South Africa
which contrasts with the domination of western people. It becomes the reason for the
writer to analyze the whiter and black characters in such a novel. The writer also
analyzes the theme of this novel Disgrace deeply.
The reason why the writer decided to choose this issue is because there are
some interesting plots in the novel. The political apartheid in South Africa, where
white people subordinate the black, was changed in the novel. The author told to the
readers, David Lurie as the main character and white became subordinate by Petrus
where black. This change told by the author through Davids daughter, Lucy, which
had been living beside Petrus as her neighbor. Some accident made Lucy depends on
Petrus, to make her save.

B. The Focus of the Study

In this research, writer tries to limit the discussion on the characteristic of
David Lurie as the main character, Lucy as white people and Petrus as black people
as the supporting characters and also the theme of the novel.

C. The Research Questions

Based on the background and the focus of the study, the questions can be
stated as follows:
1. What are the characteristics of David Lurie and Lucy as white people, and
Petrus as black people in novel Disgrace?
2. Based on those characteristics, what is the theme of the novel?

D. Methodology of the Research

1. The objective of the research
The objectives of the research are:
a. The write wants to describe the characteristic of the character David Lurie
and Lucy as white people and Petrus as a black people in the novel.
b. To know about the theme of the novel which convey the characters David
Lurie and Lucy as a white people and Petrus as a black people.
2. The Method of the Study
The writer uses the qualitative method in analyzing the novel, the writer tries
to describe the data analysis have correlation with the method and the research
questions.
3. Instrument of the Research
The instrument of this research is the writer herself as the main instrument in
collecting the data needed through many ways such as collecting, reading,
identifying, and giving other important notes to the data source.

4. Technique of Data Analysis

In this research, the writer uses qualitative analysis. The collected data are
analyzed by comparing the data with the relevant theory.
5. The Unit of Analysis
The unit of analysis on this research is novel Disgrace written by J. M.
Coetzee. The novel published by Vintage, London in 1999.

E. Place and Time

The research accomplish in academic year 2009/2010 in English Letters
Department, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah
University. This research is conducted in the State Islamic University Syarif
Hidayatullah Jakarta.

CHAPTER TWO
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

A. Character
Character in a story of the novel is usually showed in completely, such as
the physical traits, social condition, behavior, feeling and habit, including how the
relation between characters to another whether it is described directly or
indirectly. 13 The characters are the narrators fictional and the narrator is the only
person who really familiar with them. That is why the characters are shown
completely, such as through the characters physical traits, social condition,
behavior, feeling and habit, etc. Those could imply the characteristic of the
characters.
According to Abrams as quoted by Burhan Nurgiantoro, character or
personage is a person represented in a narrative literature or drama which is
interpreted by the readers. The character which has a moral quality and has the
particular tendency as those expressed in an utterance and action. 14 In this case
between the characters and their personal qualities have close link to the readers
opinion and view. The readers have an important role to interpret the characters
which based on the characters words and action.
These are types of characters according to the aspects of naming:
1. Main and Supporting Character
Main character or central character is a character that mostly appears
on the text and dominates the entire story. Then supporting character is a
13

Nurgiantoro, Burhan, Teori Pengkajian Fiksi, Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada University

Press, 2002, p. 13
14
Ibid., p.165

character who only present once or several times in a story and in a short
portion narration.
2. Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is a character in a story that we adore popularly called
hero - a character that represent norm personification, an ideal values for us.
However, antagonist is a character who causes conflict. Antagonist, directly
or indirectly, physical or spiritual opposes with the protagonist. 15

B. Characterization
Characterization is a representation of a character or characters on a stage
or in writing, especially by imitating or describing actions, gestures, or
speeches. 16 Characterization can involve developing variety aspects of a character
such as age, educational level, social status, belief, ambitions, motivations, etc.
These are the types of characterization:
1. Flat and Round
Character in plays like character in novels and short stories, may be
round or flat. Major characters are likely to be round, while minor characters
are apt to be flat. 17 Major characters are mostly appear in the whole story and
described more detail by the author. That is why the author tells all the aspect
of life on the major characters. As the definition by Kennedy round character

15

Ibid., p. 176-9
www.answers.com/topic/characterization (retrieved on Oct 9th, 2006)
17
Laurie G. Kirzner and Stephen R. Mandel, Literature, Reading, Reacting, Writing,
Texas: Holt, Rinehart University and Winston, Inc, 1991, p. 1146
16

presents us with more facets that is their author portray them in greater
depth and in more generous detail. 18
Moreover flat character is a character who has single personal quality,
a single nature character. 19 Because of flat character has single personal
quality, flat character is predictable, more familiar and sometimes stereotype.
2. Static or Dynamic
Static character is a character in a story that shows no change at all or
shows a little change. Then the dynamic character is a character who change
and significantly affected by events of the narrative. 20 Flat characters are
usually static character because they do not change and have only one
characteristic which dominant focused on. For example the figure of police or
soldier who has single idea or characteristics such as strong, as hero, brave,
etc. And if the characters seen from all the aspects and change throughout the
story, described as dynamic.
According to Kenney as quoted by B. Rahmanto and P. Hariyanto,
there are three methods to get characteristic.
1. Discursive
Discursive or direct method means that the author represents the
characteristic of the character directly to the readers. The narrator literally
tells the readers what the character is like, such as attitudes, emotions and
even the physical traits.

18

Kennedy, X. J, Literature, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, Fifth Edition,

Harper Collins, 1991, p. 48
19
Burhan, op. cit., p. 181
20
Ibid., p. 188

10

Taken from Layar Terkembang written by S. T Alisjahbana which is

describing the character of Tuti in direct method.
Tuti is not the kind of person who easily to be amazed by
something. She knows that she is smart and many things she can
do and get. Everything is measured by her that is why she is rarely
praise. She has thought and opinion of herself about everything
and all of her idea according to consideration which are supported
by certain belief.
2. Dramatic
Dramatic method means that the author let the characters to show
themselves through their own words and their actions, such as from dialogue,
characters feelings, thoughts, actions, attitudes, physical traits, etc. In a short
story of Kado Perkawinan written by in part 3, for example there are
dialogues between Rabiah and her mother; or in part 11 there are dialogues
between Rabiah and her husband when they were opened the gift, show how
the character of Rabiah described by the author in dramatic method. The
author explains the character of Rabiah dominantly with showing Rabiahs
thought and her feelings as in part 5.
Part 3
Malamnya ia berkata kepada ibunya, Mengapa ayah menjadi tukang
cukur?
Mengapa kau bertanya seperti itu anakku?
Mereka mengejekku. Anak si tukang cukur. Kata mereka.
Kau malu anakku?
Telingaku tebal menahan malu, Ibu. Mengapa ayah memilih
pekerjaan tukang cukur? Apa tidak ada pekerjaan lain yang bisa
dikerjakan ayah?
Semua pekerjaan itu mulia anakku. Begitu si Ibu menasehati
anaknya.
Part 11
Kau tidak boleh kecewa, sayang. Semua pekerjaan itu mulia. Aku
adalah tukang cukur di kantorku. Kau jangan kecewa sayang. Kau
harus menyadari bahwa semua pekerjaan yang halal itu mulia.

11

Mengapa kau tidak mengatakannya sejak dulu?

Aku tidak ingin merusak impianmu. Aku hanya ingin menjaga
impianmu. Dan sekarang kuharap kau sudah terbangun dari
mimpimu.
Part 5
Rabiah tidak pernah mau menyambut kotak tempat alat cukur itu
setiap ayahnya pulang.kotak cukur itu, kalau dia bisa berkata, dia
tentu akan berkata seperti ini. Mengapa kau selalu lari dari
kenyataan Rabiah. Apakah kau tidak sadar bahwa akulah yang
memberimu makan sejak bayi sampai kau dewasa. Seharusnya kau
sayang padaku. Tidakkah kau bersyukur bahwa ayahmu masih
mampu mempergunakan alat-alat yang kusimpan di dalam diriku ini?
Coba kau bayangkan kalau dia sudah tidak mampu lagi, apa
jadinya? Tentu saja Rabiah tidak mendengar kata-kata itu semua.
Hanya hati nurani anak yang pandai bersyukur yang bisa menangkap
kaat-kata itu.
From the quotation above the author describes the character of Rabiah
as a woman who ashamed because she was mocked by her friends as a
barbers daughter. Rabiah was disappointed when she knew that her husband
was a barber as like her fathers job. The author also tells that Rabiah was
never accepted the reality of her fathers job as a barber.
3. Contextual
The author represents the characters from the verbal context around
the characters. Clearly, the author represents the characters setting or circle
around them, such as: his/her room, his/her house, his/her work place, or a
place where the characters live. Taken from Siti Nurbaya which is describing
the condition of Datuk Maringgih residence, Datuk Maringgih is a rich trader
in Padang but he is a miser, unclean and dishonest. 21
Di serambi muka hanya ada sebuah lampu gantung macam lama,
yang telah berkarat besi-besinya. Apabila tak ada orang datang,
lampu itu tiada dipasang. Dan oleh sebab yang empunya rumah
21

B. Rahmanto and P. Hariyanto, Cerita Rekaan dan Drama, (Universitas Terbuka,

1999), p. 2.13-4

12

rupanya jarang menerima tamu pada malam hari di sana, minyak

tanah yang ada dalam lampu itu, terkadang-kadang berpekan-pekan
belum habis. Di bawah lampu ini, ada meja bundar, yang rupanya
telah sangat tua, dikelilingi oleh empat kursi goyang dari kayu, yang
warnanya hamper tidak kelihatan lagi, karena catnya telah hilang.
Di ruang tengah, hanya ada sebuah lemari pakaian, yang umurnya
kira-kira setengah abad. Sebuah meja marmer kecil, yang batunya
telah kuning serta berlubang-lubang terletak dekat dinding, diapit
oleh dua buah kursi kayu yang tempat duduknya dari kulit kambing,
sedang di lantai terhampar tikar rotan yang telah tua. Ruang tengah
ini pada malam hari diterangi oleh lampu dinding, yang dipasang
dari setengah tujuh sampai pukul sepuluh malam. (Rusli, 1979: p. 86)

4. Anti-hero
An anti-hero is a character that the reader roots for, despite his flaws
and the bad things hes done or how he justifies these misdeeds. Sometimes
the anti-hero is able to toe the line between good and evil, but often hes a
danger to himself and others. An antihero often reflects societys confusion
and ambivalence about morality.
The differences between hero and anti-hero are as follows:
a. A hero is an idealist.
An anti-hero is a realist
.
b. A hero has a conventional moral code.
An anti-hero has a moral code that is quirky and individual.
c. A hero is somehow extraordinary.
An anti-hero can be ordinary.
d. A hero is always proactive and striving.
An anti-hero can be passive.
e. A hero is often decisive.
An anti-hero can be indecisive or pushed into action against his will.
f. A hero succeeds at his ultimate goals, unless the story is a tragedy.
An anti-hero might fail in a tragedy, but in other stories he might be
redeemed by the storys events, or he might remain largely unchanged,
including being immoral.

13

g. A hero is motivated by virtues, morals, a higher calling, pure intentions,

and love for a specific person or humanity.
An anti-hero can be motivated by a more primitive, lower nature,
including greed or lust, through much of the story, but he can sometimes
be redeemed and answer a higher calling near the end.
h. A hero is motivated to overcome flaws and fears, and to reach a higher
level. This higher level might be about self-improvement, a deeper
spiritual connection, or trying to save humankind from extinction. His
motivation and usually altruistic nature lends courage and creativity to his
cause. Often, a hero makes sacrifices in the story for the better of others.
An anti-hero, while possibly motivated by love or compassion at times, is
most often propelled by self-interest.
i. A hero always faces monstrous opposition, which essentially makes him
heroic in the first place. As hes standing up to the bad guys and troubles
the world hurls at him, he will take tremendous risks and sometimes battle
an authority. His stance is always based on principles.
An anti-hero also battles authority and sometimes goes up against
tremendous odds, but not always because of principles. His motives can be
selfish, criminal, or rebellious.
j. A hero can be complex, but he is generally unambivalent.
An anti-hero is a complicated character who reflects the ambivalence of
many real people. 22
An anti-heros actions and ways of thinking demand that the reader
think about issues and ask difficult questions.

C. Theme
A novels theme is the main idea that the writer expresses. The theme in a
fiction is important element. Just as in a play, each element of a fiction its title,
its conflicts, its dialogue, its character for instancecan shed light on its theme. 23
The title of the story sometimes can reveal the theme. From dialogue, conflict and
characters can also support and bind it together to reveal the theme.

22

.Defining
and
Developing
Your
Anti
http//:www.writersonlineworkshop.com, 21st August 2009
23
Kirszner and Mandell, Op. Cit., p. 1488

Hero,

article

taken

from

14

Various problems and experiences of life, either individual or social such

as love, family, religion, fear, death, justice, heroism, etc can become a theme in
fiction. 24 The author appoints the theme from certain problem of life in our social
and individual because they are universal and it could be happened to everyone.
Theme in a fiction has a function to give contribution to other elements of
a story such as plot, characters and setting. The author arrange the plot, create
characters and setting is actually the authors perception of the theme. 25 Intrinsic
element in fiction such as plot, characters and setting are meant to build a theme.
Characters for example are agent who has duty to submit the theme of the authors
mean. Plot present various event which relation to the characters. Then setting
will be affected the characters behavior and thought. Theme is integral to a
literary work. When we are studying theme, we can understand and then
communicate the authors meaning to the readers.

24
25

Burhan, Op. Cit., p. 71

Rahmanto and Hariyanto, Op., Cit., p. 2. 20

15

CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH FINDING

A. Data Description
1. Main Character
One of the essential elements of literary works, especially novels and
plays, are characters. The people in a fiction text are known as characters.
They are usually presented through their actions, speeches and thoughts.
Through characters, readers can identify the conflict, the main focus of the
story and the theme.
In this chapter, the writer analyzes the main characters of David Lurie,
David Lurie is white who live in black community, South Africa. David is
fifty two years old and divorce. He teaches Communication at the Cape
Technical University, where his real subject, Modern Languages has been
abolished as part of great rationalization of educational resources. David is
still allowed to teach a single course on the Romantic poets.
He earns his living at the Cape Technical University, formely Cape
Town University College. Once a professor of modern language, he
has been, since Classic and Modern Language were closed down as
part of the great rationalization, adjunct professor of communications.
Like all rationalized personnel he is allowed to offer one special filed
course a year, irrespective of enrolment, because that is good for
morale. This year he is offering a course in the Romantic poets. For
the rest he teaches Communication 101, Communication Skills, and
Communication 201, Advanced Communication Skills. (p. 3)
He leaves his job at the University after having sexual relation with
one of his female students. Then he leaves the city and goes to the Eastern
Cape where his daughter, Lucy, lives there.

16

2. Supporting Characters
a. The character of Lucy
Lucy is Davids daughter from his first marriage. Lucy decided to
move into a community on the Eastern Cape a year ago and the
communes house is the farm of Lucy. Her commune was a group of
young people who self made products on a nearby market. Her father
helped her to buy the farm when the commune break apart and she
convince her father that she has truly fallen in love with the place. She
has already expanded her business quite successful and has added a large
number of dogs and wants to branch into cats. She also sales flowers,
potatoes, onions and cabbage in every Saturday morning where she is
occasionally helped by black neighbor called Petrus in her work.
b. The character of Petrus
Petrus is a black man who is hired by Lucy to help her. In the new
South Africa he buys a part of Lucys land and he builds a house for
himself on it. He has two wives: an older woman who lives in Adelaide
and younger pregnant wife who lives with him on the farm. Petrus still
helps Lucy with her tasks but now he must be paid.

B. The Characteristics in Disgrace

1. David Lurie
a. David is a lover of women

17

David is a man who has found pleasure in women in his whole life.
His own past family life which growing up among women made him a
lover to women. We may see it at these sentences:
He himself has no son. His childhood was spent in a family of
women. As mother, aunts, sister fell away; there were replaced in
due course by mistress, wives and daughter. The company of
women made him a lover to women and to an extent a
womanizer. (p. 7)
David has allowed his sexual desire to lead him. As the opening
sentence of the novel state the matter, of how David has solved the
problem of sex rather well. (p. 1) His solution to his sexual desire is by
having weekly visits to an exotic prostitute called Soraya who offers him
sexual gratification. A solution that is surprisingly makes him a happy
man, ninety minutes of womans company are enough to make him
happy (p.5). But one day it all ended when David accidentally saw Soraya
with her two children and realizes that she has a family life.
He attempts to replace Soraya by having sex to many women:
former wives and tourists. He also has affair with the wives of colleagues,
slept with whores (p. 7) and even make love with a new secretary in his
department. The narrator describes David as an aging but still handsome
and attractive, so he is easily finds other women.
With his height, his good bones, his olive skin, his flowing hair,
he could always count on degree of magnetism. If he looked at
women in a certain way, with certain intent, she would return his
look, he could rely on that. (p. 7)
He is also willing to force, to use his personality, his money and his
position to get his way with women. Even if he wanted a woman he had

18

to learn to pursue her, often to buy her (p. 7). Suffer the loss of his
weekly visit with Soraya and feeling his life as featureless as a desert (p.
11), David notices one of his young female students, Melanie Isaac sit at
the University garden and pursue her. David uses his position as a teacher
to intimidate Melanie who is still junior enough and uses his power as an
adult for his sexual satisfaction.
As a teacher, David has a power to influence his students, including
Melanie. This is why Melanie couldnt reject when David invited her to
his apartment and having sex with her. The writer assumes that this
accident could be happen because Melanie is afraid with her lecture, in
other side, David feels that he can ask for the student to do what he wants.
As a man who has divorced twice, David was a woman lover and he
usually puts his desire with the prostitute.
b. David is arrogant
Even though David is aware of the fact that his affair with Melanie
could result as scandal from the beginning, but he behaves indifferently of
this risk and says if the scandal would happened, what will that
matter?(p. 27) When the scandal is opened up, he charges of sexual
harassment.
There is a universitys committee to investigate the whole scandal.
The committee sincerely wants to help David and wants him to accept
counseling sessions, a minimal demand of the committee, he refuses and
sees that he does no need counseling and nothing wrong in his desire

19

towards his student. He says that as a grown man he is not receptive to

being counseled. He is beyond the reach of counseling.
The question comes from the young woman from the Business
School. He can feel himself bristling. No, I have not sought
counseling nor do I intend to seek it. I am a grown man. I am not
receptive to being counseled. I am beyond the reach of
counseling.(p. 49)
The committee wants him to apologize in public but he is reluctant
to understand of his wrong doing. In front of the universitys committee,
David is also unwilling to cooperate in order to save his professional
career. David pleads guilty of the charges but he says that he is not willing
to apologize. Here the narrator tried to explain his attitude.
I am guilty of the charges brought against me.
Dont play games with us David. There is a difference between
pleading guilty to a charge and admitting you were wrong, and you
know that.
Very well. I took advantage of my position vis--vis Ms Isaacs. It
was wrong, and I regret it. Is it that good enough for you?
The question is not whether it is good enough for me, Professor
Lurie, the question is whether it is good enough for you. Does it
reflect your sincere feelings? (p. 54)
From the conversation above, it shows that David doesnt want to
loose his dignity by confessing that he was wrong and guilty of the charge
brought against him. He also rejects the kindness of his friend, which ask
him to admit that he is wrong. If David admits that he was wrong, he still
has a chance to continue teaching in the college.
We may see that David is also arrogant, in front of the campus
media that awaits him after the universitys hearing. He says he has no
regrets and that he was enriched by the experience (p. 56) when the
reporters ask him whether he had any regrets for his actions. David says he

20

has never been passionate but Melanie has made him a servant of Eros
(p. 52). For Davids view, his actions may not be considered a crime but
an act of passion. A passion that is not allowed in society at large and
definitely not allowed between teacher and student.
c. David is anti hero
Anti hero is a main character in a novel and modern drama.
Antihero is described as having lack of courage, does not resign as a hero
but as the powerless victim from events which occurred unexpectedly, from
mistaken and from his position/status in the society.1 The anti hero is
characterized as lack of traditional hero qualities, such as trustworthiness,
courage, and honesty.
1) Powerless victim
After leaving the university in disgrace, David moves to Eastern
Cape with his daughter Lucy. At the time of Davids arrival everything
is fine, and then everything change, when David and Lucy attacked by
three strangers. He changes from powerful person into a powerless. He
is unable to save himself when the three of strangers blow him on the
head, fainted, and lock in the lavatory. He tries to recover but his legs
are somehow blocked from moving
The man gives him a push. He stumbles back, sits down heavily.
The man raises the bottle. His face is placid, without trace of
anger. It is merely a job he is doing: getting someone to hand
over an article. If it entails hitting him with a bottle, he will hit
him; hit him as many times as is necessary, if necessary break
the bottle too. (p. 94).

Hartono, Dick dan B. Rahmanto, Pemandu di Dunia Sastra, Kanisius, 1992, p. 15

21

They try to burn David, luckily he still alive although his hair
and his right ear are burned; his eyelid is swelled and his scalp
blistered. David powerless condition also appears when he could not
save his daughter. During he was locked in lavatory, he realizes that
his daughter is in the hand of strangers. He must do something to help
his daughter but he is locked by the lavatory. He batters the door,
yelling his daughters name and suddenly the door opened by one of
the strangers. David says to the stranger to take everything what they
want and asks to leave his daughter alone but the strangers seem do not
care of it and locked him in the lavatory again. All he can do is just
asking to himself is it possible that what the house has to offer will be
enough for them? Is it possible they will leave Lucy unharmed too?
(p. 95) But the worst crime committed of the three strangers are raping
Lucy while David locked in the lavatory. The three of strangers also
killed Lucys dogs and take Davids car. David is helpless, powerless
to protect his daughter and himself.
David is shocked by the incident and he feels like no power to
anything.
For the first time he has a taste of what it will be like to be an
old man, tired to the bone, without hopes, without desires and
indifferent to the future (p. 107).
Moreover David sees himself as a fly-casing in spider web,
brittle to the touch, lighter than rice chaff, ready to float away (p.
107). Things become worst for David when his daughter confesses that
she become pregnant by the rapist and plan to have the baby. She adds

22

that the one of the strangers is related to Petrus, his daughter neighbor,
and become a member of Petrus household.
2) Lack of courage
The next day after the incident at the farm the policemen come
to Lucys farm and begin to investigate. Lucy tells the whole story of
the incident but does not report the rape when she is being interviewed.
David knows that it was an untruth story but he has no courage to
contradict her story, nevertheless he does not interrupt (p. 109).
David is also has no courage to apologize among the public or to
responsible to what he has done for his student, instead he escapes and
lives with her daughter in Eastern Cape. He has no courage to change
his character, he know that he is driven by desires by having affair
with many women and with one of his female students which is the
main reason he lost his job. Even he continues his desire by sleeping
with Bev Shaw, Lucys friend who voluntarily runs an animal clinic
and married. Seems he has never learned his lesson that he has to be
more careful in his actions.
3) Selfish
In the beginning David is aware that his sexual relationship with
his female student is a mistake but he behaves indifferently. He knows
that Melanie is no more than a child (p. 20) but his heart is lurches
with desires (p. 20). He seeks an excuse that a womans beauty does
not belong to her alone, she has a duty to share it (p. 16). A hero never
selfishly thinks of their own personal desire to another.

23

The narrator suggests that his pursuit of Melanie is predatory in

nature (p. 10). David ignores every indication that Melanie repulses
him, all he cares is about his own desire. For instance when David
forces himself on her at her cousins house even though she does not
want him to come in but nothing will stop him (p. 25). He continues
his selfish sexual desire and even state she does not resist. All she
does are averts herself: avert her lips, avert her eyes not rape, not
quite that but undesired to the core (p. 25) when he seduce her.

2. Lucy Lurie
a. Lucy is stubborn
At the time of Davids arrival at her farm everything is still fine.
However one day they are visited by three men who raped her, set fire to
her father, rob their car and valuables things. Lucy is adamant to keeping
the rape as secret and not to report the rape to the police or press charge
against the man who raped her. Her father could not understand why she
does not want to report the rape, Lucy tries to explain the reason to her
father as follow:
The reason is that, as far as I am concerned, what happened to me
is purely private matter. In another time, in another place it might
be held to be a public matter. But in this place, at this time, it is not.
It is my business, mine alone.(p. 112)
During conversation with her father, Lucy insists that it is her own
business to report or not the crime with says:
This is my life. I am the one who has to live here. What happened
to me is my business, mine alone, not yours, and if there is one
right I have it is the right not to be put on trial (. 133).

24

b. Lucy is imprudent
The incident at the farm actually made Lucy worry and scared. She
thinks that the strangers may have marked her and she is in their territory
and probably they will come back for her. But Lucy will not leave the farm
and go on living like she used to even if everything around her changed.
Lucy is imprudent in facing her problem. She makes a decision
which is without careful thought to stay at her farm and continue her life as
before. She also refuses her fathers offer to take a break and go to Holland
for six months or a year until things have improved. Actually Lucy would
be much safer and better living somewhere else for a while after the
terrible attack, to get away from dangerous situation that is developing in
Eastern Cape. She believes that the incident is probably the price to pay
her for staying on.
She broods a long while before she answers. But isnt there
another way of looking at it, David? What if what if that is the
price one has to pay for staying on? Perhaps that is how they look
at it; perhaps that is how I should look at it too. They see me as
owing something. They see themselves as debt collectors, tax
collectors. Why should I be allowed to live here without paying (p.
158).
The imprudence of Lucy commits a blunder when she is pregnant
as result of the rape and one of the rapists is a relative to Petrus, his
neighbor. She decides to accept Petruss proposal and know the risk of
being third wives. Even though the marriage proposal is just a deal, Petrus
marry to protect her in exchange for the farm.

25

3. Petrus
a. Petrus is a hard worker
At the beginning the narrator portrays Petrus as a gardener and the
dog man 2 (p. 64), he is nothing more than an assistant of Lucy. He is the
hard labor looking after the dogs and working in the garden. Because of his
hard work he already owned a small of Lucys land particularly when he
got a Land Affairs grant to buy a hectare. And if he goes to be hard worker
he got grant to put a house and then he can move out of the stable.
Petrus is described as a hard worker; a linked and has weather face
(p. 64); he has characteristics of a man of patience, energy and resilience
(p. 117). Throughout the novel Petrus became not any more than the dog
man.
b. Petrus is a loyal to his family
Petrus indeed has two wives but he is loyal enough to them. Even
though his wife lives in Adelaide, while Petrus lives in Eastern Cape, he
usually goes off to Adelaide and spends times there.
He and his wife have the old stable. Ive put in electricity. Its quite
comfortable. He has another wife in Adelaide, and children, some of
them grown up. He goes off and spends time there occasionally.(p.
64).
When David knows that the attacker who made Lucy pregnant is
Pollux, brother of first Petrus wife, David wants to bring the attacker to the
jail and wants him to go away. Because the attacker is related to Petrus
wives, Petrus sees that he has obligation toward him, to his family
obligation. Petrus says that the boy is too young to go to the jail and has
2

The dog man here means a man that has a duty to guard and protect his/her master from
any threatment

26

innocent thought. Petrus realized that the boy is too young to marry Lucy
and as exchange Petrus offers Lucy to marrying her, to protect her. Petrus
may not be a big man but he is big enough for Lucy.
Petrus may not be a big man but he is big enough for someone small
like me. And at least I know Petrus. I have no illusion about him. I
know what I would be letting myself in for. (p. 204).

c. Petrus is a good neighbor

As a neighbor Petrus is a good man, he helps Lucy to sell the
plantation products to the market every Saturday morning. Petrus is
working hard to get the market garden going for Lucy. According to Bev
Shaw statement without Petrus Lucy would not be where she is now. I am
not saying she owes him everything, but she owes him a lot. Petrus is a
good old chap and you can depend on him (p. 140). When Lucy finds
herself pregnant by one of the attacker, Petrus offers to marry her in order
to keep her safe.
I will marry Lucy.
He cannot believe his ears. So this is it, that is what all the shadowboxing was for this bid, this blow! And here stands Petrus
foursquare, puffing on the empty pipe, waiting for a response.
(p.202)
What Petrus does by marrying Lucy is to protect Lucy from any
dangerous thing that could happen to a woman who is not married.
Yes, I know, says Petrus. And perhaps he does indeed know. He
would be a fool to underestimate Petrus. But here, says Petrus, it
is dangerous, too dangerous. A woman must be marry. (p. 202)

27

C.

Theme
The character of David Lurie in this novel, he was Lucys father. David

Lurie was an old man who tried to be a good father to his daughter, Lucy. In other
hand, Lucy was an independent girl, which avoids any support from her father.
This is why she chooses to make a living by planting and lived in the small village
far from the town. The character of Petrus, he is a servant of Lucy, and helps her
in growing the plant and sells it to the market. But by the time, his land increase
because of his hard work. What Petrus get is what he has afforded it. Beside he
has a nephew who suspected as the subject of Lucys sexual harassment, Peter
wants to protect Lucy.
Disgrace took place in Cape Town in South Africa, which describe where
the view is that it is seen better to live in the city compared to the countryside.
This is shown in the novel where the educated people live in the cities working at
the university where David is a professor, and the people living on the countryside
spend their days trying to take care of their smallholding and the farm.
David had through bad situation with his carrier. After he had fired from
his job, he decided to visit his daughter. This make David became unemployed
and took any job that he can do. Being a lecture in a university and have a good
tuition fee, position, and dignity, which made David, have a normal life.
According to the novel, Davids life changes when he had an affair with his
student and expelled from the university.
Here, his position becomes uncomfortable. David knew the consequence
when he decided to not felt guilty with the charge on him. He moved out to
Lucys and took any job there.

28

There is a paradox life between Davids life and Petrus life. The life of
Petrus as an assistant on Lucys smallholding in the rural South Africa changes
throughout the story. The author illustrates this by introducing him as the dog
man. But his life is on the upswing for the dog man. Being able to own his land
in the new South Africa, Petrus undergoes a transformation and finally declares
himself as a dog man no more.
The positive development Petrus undergoes, the author portray him as the
gardener and the dog man during his first conversation with David, who had just
arrive at his daughter farm after escape from his scandal in Cape Town. Without a
doubt, the description of his purpose at this time signal inferiority, as he is nothing
more than an assistant taking care of dogs and flowers. While the dogs also being
connected to their traditional function of the protector of whites. When David
arrives at the farm, Petrus already own a small of the land but continuously
increases his property.
When Petrus returned after the incident, he brought a load of building
materials for a bigger house. Lucy describes him as his own master (p. 114) and
shortly after Petrus holds a party as his land transfer goes through officially on
the first of the next month (p. 124). David and Lucy make their appearance on
Petrus big day and they are the only whites to attend. Petrus does not play the
eager host and does not offer his whites neighbor a drill. Instead he declares that
he is finished his life as a dog man. Lucy does not realize of the honest statement
and interpret it as a joke, but it soon becomes perfectly clear that Petrus days as
an assistant have come to an end.

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By freeing himself as dog man no more he clearly climb up on the social

ladder and becomes what black could not become under the power, as illustrated
by David becoming a dog man as seen before, is just obvious when David help
Petrus laying pipes after the party. Petrus does not need any professional advice
from David, but merely needed him as a handlanger, a word that indicates that
the inferior role has gradually shifted to David.
The worst thing is how David Lurie, an intellectual person which had title
a professor, becomes a person who can do nothing except working in bad place.
By the time, David realized that he cant do nothing but accept what the destiny
does. The situation that makes him to take any job turned David into a rational
man. What David has and does in the university, which let him to become an
intellectual people, disappear when he moved out.
And Lucy, her decision to take care the child on his body, turned her to
accept all the risk, such as being Petrus wife, in order to get the protection from
any dangerous things and social judgment.
So what happen with Lucy, which she decided to take care the child in her
body, even she knows that the child was from one of three black strangers who
raped her. In order to get the protection and to get the acknowledgment from the
society, she asked Petrus to marry her. This is because she knows that it is an
extraordinary that a woman has a child but had not a husband. But her ask was
with condition, the marriage just for the legal act and she has right to owe the
house.
The character of Petrus was an interesting one. At the beginning of the
story, he just a black man who has worked with Lucy and gave any help she

30

needs. But after the accident happened to Lucy and David, Petrus became a man
to take control of the situation. He wants to marry Lucy, in order to save her from
any negative opinion from the society because the baby in her body.
Through the development of Petrus there is a change of character position.
David and Lucy who both are white become subordinate by Petrus, a black. David
and Lucy seem powerless with their condition. They couldnt avoid the authority
that leads Petrus took control. Petrus, a hard worker who works for Lucy is able to
protect his land lady from any treatments and at the end become a powerful
person over Lucy and David.
This situation is contradictive with the Apartheid ideology. Apartheid
means the former political system in South Africa in which only white people had
full political rights and other people, especially black people, were forced to live
away from white people. 3 In this novel that ideology did not work. Black people
can rules in the area where white people took the rule. Black people also can gives
protection to white people, which in this novel is Lucy.
Based on all the analysis above about the characters and the lifes changes
of the characters, it can be concluded that the theme of the novel is the superiority
and inferiority of white and black is a constructed ideology where there is change
of position, where white as superior, in this novel became inferior. When the
politic of apartheid happened in South Africa, all privileges were on white people,
even they are minority. This situation in the writers analysis was the theme of the
novel.

Sally Wehmeier, Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, (London: Oxford University

Press, 2003), p. 49

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The ending of the novel: David become an assistant of Bev Shaw, a

volunteer in animal clinic The Animal Welfare League and Lucy becomes third
wife of Petrus, and Petrus owns Lucys farming land emphasize the changing of
racial social position.

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CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

A. Conclusion
After analyzing the main problem in the chapter three, the writer drew a
conclusion that the characters of David Lurie are lover of women, arrogant and
anti hero. The characters of Lucy are stubborn and imprudent. Petrus, as black he
is hard worker, loyal to his family, and good neighbor.
The theme of this novel is about the change status where the white usually
become superior, in this novel became inferior. And the black people, which
usually inferior became superior. This position is actually interchangeable where
black can also rules and white can be subordinated. David and Lucy, who are
white, should be the ordinate to Petrus, a black people. This is related with the
apartheid politic in South Africa. But in this novel, David and Lucy became
subordinate. First, David was a settled man as the lecture in Cape Technical
University. But in the end of the novel, David becomes an assistant of Bev Shaw,
a volunteer in an animal clinic. Lucy becomes wife of Petrus, which he was
Lucys assistant. Petrus, in the beginning of the story, was Lucys assistant, in the
end of the story, he owned Lucys farming land.

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B. Suggestion
This study suggests that for understanding the novel is needed to know
about the condition of white people where they are minority in South Africa. It
also can be focused from the historical society of apartheid politic in South Africa
in a certain period that related to it. The reason is the people can understand, and
know about the politic which gave white people to repress the black people in
their own country. However, the readers can get more information and other
advantages after reading the novel using the sociological and political literature.
The writer also suggests to the readers who want to know about the history of
apartheid politic and discrimination of black people in the South Africa, can read
the history apartheid politic and post apartheid.
Finally, the writer hopes that this study will be useful for future
improvement of studying literature, especially in the Faculty of Adab and
Humanities, UIN Jakarta.

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BIBLIBOGRAPHY

Coetzee, J.M., Disgrace, London: Vintage, 1999

Finnegan, W., Crossing the Line: A Year in the Land of Apartheid, (New York:
Harper&Row, 1986
Frederickson, M. George, Rasisme: Sejarah Singkat, Yogyakarta, Bentang
Pustaka, 2005
Kennedy, X. J, Literature, An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama, Fifth
Edition, Harper Collins, 1991
Kirzner, Laurie G. and Mandel, Stephen R., Literature, Reading, Reacting,
Writing, Texas: Holt, Rinehart University and Winston, Inc, 1991
Nurgiantoro, Burhan, Teori Pengkajian Fiksi, Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada
University Press, 2002
Rahmanto, B. and P. Hariyanto, Cerita Rekaan dan Drama, Universitas Terbuka,
1999)
Sarkin,

Jeremy, Post-Apartheid Education in South Africa: Toward

Multiculturalism or Anti-Racism, in Carl A. Grant and Joy L. Lei (ed.),
Global Constructions of Multicultural Education, (New Jersey: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates, Inc, 2001

Wehmeier, Sally, Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, London: Oxford

University Press, 2003

Website:
www.psychology.ciu.edu/topic/racism.htm (retrieved on Sept 25th, 2006)
www.wikipedia.com/supremacy.htm (retrieved on Oct 10th, 2006)
www.etymonline.com/cw/dixie.htm (retrieved on Oct 10th, 2006)
www.ebroadcast.com.au/lookup/encyclopedia/racism.html (retrieved on Jan 6th,
2007)
www.irib.ir/worldservice/november2005/orientalism.htm (retrieved on Nov 4th,
2006)

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www.amconmag.com/article2.html (retrieved on Sept 9th, 2006)

www.lrb.co.uk (retrieved on Sept 9th, 2006)
www.answers.com/topic/characterization (retrieved on Oct 9th, 2006)
www.writersonlineworkshop.com, 21st August 2009

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Apartheid
In Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, the term apartheid means the
former political system in South Africa in which only white people had full
political rights and other people, especially black people, were forced to live away
from white people, go to separate schools, etc.
South Africa is a multicultural society. However, before the 1994
transition to democracy little account was taken of the multiethnic, multilingual,
and multicultural nature of South Africa society. Indeed, the state catered almost
exclusively to the White, Christian, Afrikaans, patriarchal minority. It is not
surprisingly, therefore, that South Africa was a highly polarized and divided
society. Many people had been dispossessed of their land, had had their language
and cultures marginalized, and had suffered gross human rights violations. The
majority of South Africa were denied access to an enormous variety of amenities,
institutions, and opportunities, including many places and types of employment,
particularly in state institution. Divisions existed between Black and White but
there were also divisions based on ethnicity, class, culture, religion, and language,
which apartheid specifically accentuated.
The population registration Act of 1950 divided all South Africans into
Blacks, Indians, Coloureds, and Whites and subsequent apartheid legislation was
based on these categories. Blacks account for approximately 75% of the
population.
The terms Blacks, Coloured, Indian, and White were the four racial groups
that South Africans were divided into during Apartheid in terms of the Population
Registration Act of 1950. Black refers to indigenous South Africans origin whose
ancestors came from Africa. White refers to people of Caucasian origin who
forebears came mostly from Europe from the 17th century onward. Coloured refers
to people of mixed race origin, that is, descendents of both White and Black
people. Indian refers to people who are descendents of the Indian community that
arrived in the 1860s to work on the sugar plantations.
When the National Party came to power in 1948 it began the
institutionalization of apartheid. General laws entrenching White supremacy were
enacted in quick succession. In 1953, the Buntu Education Act took Black
education away form mission churches and gave it to the state. The act further
entrenched the separate and unequal systems of education in South Africa.
According to Dr. Verwoerd, the architect of apartheid, the education system in
place before the coming to power of his party had been misleading by showing
Black green pastures of European society in which they are not allowed to graze.
In the late 1980s, apartheid began to crumble due to international as well
as domestic pressure. On February 2, 1990, the President F.W. de Klerk set in
motion the process that would lead to democratization 4 years later and the
reincorporation of the Black homelands into South Africa.
One of the project themes of the negotiation process was the need to
provide protection for minorities and the crucial debate was whether this should
occur in terms of group rights or individual rights. The fear was that without the
protection afforded by a bill of rights, unrestrained majoritarianism could harm
minorities or members of minority groups and that therefore a check on the power
of the majority was essential.
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