Context’s Impact in Disgrace by

J. M. Coetzee and The

Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret
Atwood
Compare and Contrast
Margaret Atwood’s Context
Margaret Atwood is Canadian. Therefore, we can infer why Canada is described as the
brighter side of the story, the border all wanted to cross. “The fact is that I no longer
want to leave, escape, cross the border to freedom.”

Another aspect about Atwood’s life that we could infer had an influence on the novel
was her love towards nature. She was said to be an environmental activist, and her
detailed and passionate way of describing nature. “To breathe in the humid air which
stinks of flowers, of pulpy growth, of pollen thrown into the wind in handfuls like
oyster spawn into the sea.” Perhaps, living her childhood in the backwoods fueled her
love towards nature.
J. M. Coetzee’s Context
Born on February 9, 1940, in Cape Town, South Africa, Coetzee has explored the
conflicts of apartheid in South Africa in Disgrace. Growing up in the 1940s and 1950s,
Coetzee saw directly the injustices of apartheid, a practice of racial isolation. It is also
worth mentioning that Coetzee shared the setting he decided for David Lurie (Cape
Town, university, English degree)

Was described as a “paradoxical” writer with his “self-referentiality”: the writer who in
his works gives voice to personal obsessions and experiences, and also remains
intentionally anti-self-revelatory. This means that in some way, Coetzee reflects himself
in David Lurie
Comparing Contexts
The relationship Coetzee and Atwood have with their works are completely different.
Although both have personal experiences reflected on their works, they take different
ways when it comes relating their lives with the novels. Coetzee reflects himself in
David Lurie, taking personality traits of himself while Atwood does not evidence any
relationship with Ofred.
Setting: The Handmaid's Tale
In the one hand, the Handmaid’s Tale takes place in the Republic of Gilead, which is a
future state to what used to be the United States of America. It consists of a totalitarian
government that took over the democracy. “Think of it as being in the army, said
Aunt Lydia.”

Atwood, throughout the book, does not explicitly mention the type of government the
country had, yet she repeatedly points out totalitarian characteristics:

Dressing code used to identify and control people

Banning words such as “freedom” or “infertile”

Handmaid’s were not allowed to read, among others...

Setting: The Handmaid's Tale
Apart from being totalitarian, as the book is read, one can sense the combination of the
church and the state: theocracy.

For starters, the dressing is influenced by the Western religious iconography. “Wives
wear the blue of purity from the Virgin Mary, the Handmaids wear from the blood
of parturition but also from Mary Magdalene…”

Therefore, once the monotheocracy and the totalitarianism blend in together,

repression to other beliefs occurs. The group of repressed people were called the
original Puritans. Also, conversations established revolve around biblical references;
Rita, one of the Martha’s, is a clear example to this.
Setting: Disgrace
On the other hand, Disgrace happens in Cape Town, which is a port city in South Africa.
Cape town in the book takes place some years after the Apartheid ended. Apartheid in
South Africa means “Separateness”, which is basically what happened, South Africa
was “divided” by places. Where the Whites lived and where the Blacks lived.

Cape town (where David Lurie lived) was a placed were whites lived while the Town of
Salem (where Lucy lived) was a place were blacks lived. Therefore, the life that David
had in both places was really different considering the apartheid situation where
whites had power over blacks. Even though throughout the book this is not shown
clearly, it can really be seen the difference between these two cities.
Comparing Settings
The setting is where the stories can be tell apart the most. For starters, Atwood has the
setting as a tool to transmit her message: the possible future for the United States. She
describes the regimen and the place detailedly, something Coetzee does not do. His
main focus is not the setting, targeting his narration to Lurie’s feelings and
thoughts rather than what surrounds him when it comes to time and place.
The Handmaid’s Tale: Sexual Revolution
One of the reasons why Gilead must have been possibly founded was because after this
revolution the gender inequality was regulated and this left men adrift. This was
because men were used to being superior to women.

“The problem wasn't only with women, he says. The main problem was with the
men. There was nothing for them anymore… I'm not talking about sex, he says.
That was part of it, the sex was too easy… You know what they were complaining
about the most? Inability to feel. Men were turning off on sex, even. They were
turning off on marriage. Do they feel now? I say. Yes, he says, looking at me. They
do.”
Disgrace: Post-Apartheid
The apartheid was a system of racial isolation that took place in South Africa from 1948
until early 1990s. It consisted of the government encouraging white people in south
Africa and in places such as Cape town to repress the black people.

Since 1994, the South African government changed from the apartheid system to a
majority rule, basically a democracy. The president is elected by the people in the
country and it depends on the total votes given to them. This period of time is known as
the Post-apartheid, the years that passed after the Apartheid was over.
Disgrace: Post-Apartheid
J. M. Coetzee uses two incidents to point out the situation in the post-Apartheid south
Africa. The sexual harassment case posed against David Lurie and the tragic gang rape
of Lucy, Davids daughter.

The situation between David and Melanie symbolized the power exchange between the
whites and the blacks.

During the apartheid time David’s position as a white man was dominant and superior
under the european power structure. However, after the apartheid policy was lifted in
1992 and whites didn't have power anymore. The blacks are no longer silent, they will
speak up to anything they think is unfair to them.
Disgrace: Post-Apartheid
J.M. Coetzee was inspired by the change that South Africa suffered after the transition
by Nelson Mandela of the policies and the government. He used this as a background to
describe the shifting power and dilemma of identities of black and whites.

The novel shows the struggle and guilt of dominant groups trying to cope with a
changing world in an apartheid-free South Africa.

In addition to all this, when David has sex with girls young enough to be his daughters it
is a subtle way of introducing the failure between the colonizer and the colonized.
Disgrace: Post-Apartheid
After the attack to Lucy, David realized how was the real situation of the Post-Apartheid
in South Africa. It causes in David a stream-of-consciousness discourse:

“It happens every day, every hour, every minute, he tells himself, in every quarter of the
country. Count yourself lucky to have escaped with your life. Count yourself lucky not
to be a prisoner in the car at this moment, speeding away, or at the bottom of a donga
with a bullet in your head. (...) That is how one must see life in this country: in its
schematic aspect. Otherwise one could go mad” (pg 95)
The Handmaid’s Tale: Religion
As mentioned before, the monotheistic regime Atwood introduces was repressive and
intolerant to opposition. Religion in the 16th century was difficult. Puritans made part
of a religious movement that seeked the purification of the Church of England. They
thought the English Reformation had not advanced enough in reforming the structure
of the church, they thought the only solution was eliminating every trace of Catholic
influence. One of the elements that influenced Atwood’s novel was the 17th-century
Puritan New England, she feels connected to the theme thanks to her ancestors who
were “creepy 17th-century Puritan New Englanders”.
Atwood’s Purpose Based on the Context
Apart from being a feminist writing, Atwood also describes the Handmaid’s Tale as a
speculative fiction, which mean it theorizes about possible futures. The dystopian
outcome is a fundamental characteristic in Margaret’s novels, often how the actions of
a small group destroy society as she portrays it. Although this does not necessarily
predicts apocalyptic futures, it may warn possible ways society can lead its way to
destruction. In the book the reader can witnessed how the previously mentioned
Sexual Revolution progress was demolished by the conservative and totalitarian
government.
Coetzee’s Purpose Based on the Context
Unlike Atwood, one that seems to be criticizing society as a political activist,
Coetzee’s focal point is to criticize us as humans. Using David Lurie, a man in
denial of growing up, depressed and bored and narrates his way of dealing with
life through women.

Coetzee and Margaret both dealt with this important theme (women) and have
different ways to do so. Atwood’s is much more obvious; Coetzee introduces
various women into David's life: a prostitute, two ex-wives, a student, a
veterinarian, his daughter, and all have different ways to make him understand
life. Make him think, confuse him. The Apartheid was also an opportunity for
women to speak up, for David to be told no.
References
How Margaret Atwood's Puritan ancestors inspired The Handmaid's Tale. CBC Radio.
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/religion-utopia-or-dystopia-1.4143654/how-margaret-atwood-s-puritan-
ancestors-inspired-the-handmaid-s-tale-1.4143718. June 8, 2017. Accessed on February 2, 2019.

Naomi R. Mercer. Why should you read "The Handmaid's Tale"?. TED-Ed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v-mfJMyBO0. March 8, 2018. Accessed on January 28, 2018.

Simon Houpt. Atwood on the totalitarianism in The Handmaid's Tale. The Globe and Mail Inc.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/margaret-atwood-on-the-totalitarianism-in-the-
handmaidstale/article34847184/. April 28, 2017. Accessed on January 29, 2018.

Sexual revolution in 1960s United States. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_revolution_in_1960s_United_States. December 21, 2018. Accessed on
January 28, 2019.
References
Henry Bowden. What is Puritanism?. Scholastic Inc. https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-
content/what-puritanism/. Accessed on February 2, 2019.

Michelle Weber. The Religious Iconography of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. Longreads.

https://longreads.com/2017/03/30/the-religious-iconography-of-the-handmaids-tale-plus-soap/. March 30,
2017. Accessed on January 30, 2019.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Totalitarianism. Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/totalitarianism. Accessed on January 25, 2019.

Biography.com Editors. Margaret Atwood Biography. A&E Television Networks.

https://www.biography.com/people/margaret-atwood-9191928. February 27, 2018. Accessed on January 25,
2019.
References
Andrea Lin. Literary Criticism. Microsoft Word. http://web.ntpu.edu.tw/~shueng/Disgrace%20(Andrea).pdf. June
15, 2012. Accessed on February 2, 2019.

Thomas Bonnici. Coetzee’s Disgrace (1999) and post-colonial power.

http://periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/ActaSciHumanSocSci/article/viewFile/2744/1886. 2001. Accessed on
February 2, 2019.

Anshu Padayachee & Ashwin Desai. Post-Apartheid South Africa And The Crisis Of Expectation – DPRN Four.
Rozenberg Quarterly. http://rozenbergquarterly.com/post-apartheid-south-africa-and-the-crisis-of-expectation-
dprn-four/. Accessed on February 2, 2019.

Essay Samples. The White Dilemma in South Africa. IvyPanda. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-white-dilemma-

in-south-africa/. Accessed on February 2, 2019.
References
Charley-Ann Pearson. Prejudice, Politics and Patriarchy: The Social Decline and Changing Identity of David Lurie
in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace by Charley-Ann Pearson. South African History Online.
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/prejudice-politics-and-patriarchy-social-decline-and-changing-identity-
david-lurie-j-m-coetz. January 2015. Accessed on February 2, 2019.

Poetry Foundation. Postcolonial Theory. Glossary of Poetic Terms.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/postcolonial-theory. Accessed on February 2, 2019.

Colleen McHugh. J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace In Context. Prezi. https://prezi.com/_uycpjzxczw3/jm-coetzees-

disgrace-in-context/. November 25, 2013. Accessed on February 2, 2019.

Biography.com Editors. J. M. Coetzee Biography. A&E Television Networks.

https://www.biography.com/people/jm-coetzee-39151. January 29, 2015. Accessed on February 2, 2019.