Essay Disgrace

Why do you think Lurie’s conversation in chapter 11 with Lucy about his case take place immediately before the attack? Explore the effect it has.

In chapter 11 David is having a conversation with his daughter about his case with Melanie. David feels more at ease talking to Lucy about his affair with Melanie because both he and she have experience with women, romantically and sexually. Of course, we learn later on in the novel that Lucy isn't just going to see things from David's side of the coin; her experience as a victim of sexual assault inevitably takes her to see things from Melanie's perspective.

The author uses this conversation to stablish a contrast between the before and after attack situation. It has an impact on the reader because they can see how many changes will occur following the attack. First, we will see Lurie as perpetrator and then as victim. Second, the relationship between David and Lucy is presented in a different   way during   that conversation and after   the attack.

 First, it can be said that there are two different David in the novel. Lurie commits a rape that he is not inclined to see as an especially egregious crime (the situation with Melanie). Later, he experiences at (nearly) first-hand the trauma of rape and becomes its second-order victim (he is not raped, but his daughter is), after which (simplifying greatly) he expresses views about justice and punishment that are at odds with his earlier positions.

  Secondly, Lucy's experience as a victim of assault changes the way she relates to the people in her own life. It seems like David and Lucy are starting developing a closer father/daughter relationship when the three intruders attack Lucy and David (during this attack Lucy is raped). She is reluctant to accept help from the police and this totally baffles her father. She also becomes increasingly irritable with David. While it doesn't seem that they are ever really that close, before her rape Lucy is at least trying to open up to David about some personal topics (like in the previous conversation). It seems that, after her rape, she closes up. More than that, she almost seems to see David as no better than the men who raped her.

   To conclude, we can say that the conversation between Lurie and his daughter is very important and also is really well located in the text by the author. It causes a contrast; the readers have opposite perspectives of David and also can note how his relationship with Lucy drastically changes.

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