Oct 15, 2015 06:20 PM
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How It All Goes Down
Disgrace begins in Cape Town, South Africa with our narrator telling us that by this point in his life, 52-year-old Professor David Lurie has "solved the problem of sex rather well"(1.1). We learn that he gets his jollies out by visiting a named Soraya once a week, and that while he fulfills his desires with her, the sex is missing that "wow" factor. In fact, David doesn't feel much passion for anything in his life, from his love life, to his career, to his hobbies – until Melanie steps in, that is. David begins a slightly stalker-ish affair with Melanie, a student in his Romantics course, who awakens a passionate side of David that he didn't know existed anymore.
Things start to feel a little bit off with her almost immediately, though, and we start to get the vibe that their affair is pretty one-sided. It comes to an end when David finds out that Melanie has filed a complaint against David with the University. After an investigation, David loses his job, his status, and, as the title implies, his dignity.