Several themes are up for discussion in Poe’s murders on the rue morgue and social control in Coetzee’s disgrace. In Poe’s murders on the rue morgue, the story opens with the discovery of two violent deaths. Unlike the events seen in Coetzee’s sexual control, the police are baffled by the fact that the murderer has managed to escape even though the women’s apartment appeared sealed entirely from the inside. The genteel but impoverished Dupin and his nameless friend who narrates the story offer their services to the police. This is through a brilliant interpretation of the clues at the scene, identify the murderer an escaped orangutan. Finally, this reflects on the happenings of the current generation.
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AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT SOCIAL CONTROL IN COETZEE’S DISGRACE
Disgrace opens with David Lurie thinking that he has “solved the problem of sex rather well” by having a weekly appointment with Soraya. Social control in Coetzee’s disgrace begins with Lurie’s two brief marriages which end in divorce. He spent many years having casual affairs, but these now seem difficult to arrange, since he is 52 years old and has lost the magnetism that seemed once to draw women to him. The weekly appointments with Soraya that goes for over a year display Coetzee’s sexual control. One morning, David sees Soraya in the city shopping with two boys who are her sons, and their eyes meet briefly. Shortly after that, Soraya tells him that she will not be available. In Poe’s murders on the rue morgue and social control in Coetzee’s disgrace, an in-depth look is necessary.
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POE’S MURDERS ON THE RUE MORGUE AND SOCIAL CONTROL IN COETZEE’S DISGRACE AND COETZEE’S SEXUAL CONTROL
Disgrace can be read as a deliberation on rape in all its complexity, commenting upon many of the positions typical of the radical feminism of the seventies. The social control in Coetzee’s disgrace portrayal is prostitution. This is the ideal form of sex for the main character, David. Although some readers find that Melanie allowed for the seduction to happen, others consider it as rape. This, therefore, represents Coetzee’s sexual control. When his daughter, Lucy, equates heterosexual sex with killing and hating women, one can read it as evoking the radical feminist idea those men as a class subordinates women as a class through the threat of rape. After being rape, Lucy accepts a subordinate position, and this proves the power of rape in controlling women. Poe’s murders on the rue morgue and social control in Coetzee’s disgrace serve to educate the public.
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