Content Warning: The novel and this guide discuss sexism, sexual assault, stalking, sexual grooming, violence, and racism.

Disgrace is an unflinching portrayal of David Lurie’s deepening disgrace and his subsequent attempts at atonement. At the beginning of the novel, David is cynical and self-involved, and he is completely unaware of his moral failings. He is an aging man who sexually exploits women, though he sees himself as a misunderstood romantic. He has delusions of intellectual grandeur and resents the world around him for having the temerity to change.

To protest against the changes in his personal life as well as in the world around him, David has sex with a young student: His affair with Melanie is a counterpoint to his aging, to the changing world, and to the rules that society imposes on him. Initially, David revels in this behavior; he enjoys thwarting bureaucracy and social rules, believing he is superior to both. He cannot see that his sexual relationship with Melanie is exploitative and coercive. Even when Melanie files a complaint against him, David is convinced that she is being forced into this action by her father and friends, refusing to see that he has hurt her. At the subsequent hearing, David shows no remorse for his actions and is cast out from his position.