The Narrative Technique in J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace

While Disgrace seems to be written from a single perspective, it is in fact multi-layered. In order to support this claim, this essay investigates what the novel's protagonist sees, how he sees it and who is narrating the story, using respectively the narratological key concepts of internal focalization, fallible filter and covert narration. The essay thereafter studies how the novel has affected readers in South Africa and how it is neccessary to challenge the perspective presented in the novel in order to fully understand the text