Comparing Passion In Salter's Last Night And Disgrace

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Lisa Haff Contemporary Literature Question #4 Passion is usually considered to be an exhilarating and desirable trait; however, when uncontrolled it can also lead to a dangerous and destructive path. It can end up causing devastation and distress for oneself, as well as others. Salter and Coetzee captured the essence of passion through the characters in both novels; Last Night and Disgrace. Whether in the form of love, hate, lust, or regret passion played a major role in these two works of literature. Salter’s Last Night depicted many characters faced with problems that stemmed from their passions. The first story; Comet, Phil was living his life in Adele’s world. “They settled into life together, it was her furniture and her books,…show more content…
Ardis, a friend of Irene and Deems’ had met Brennan for the first time at the dinner party. He was a drunk, arrogant poet who tried coming on to her. After that night Ardis asked about Brennan’s work at a local bookstore, finding out that he took all of his work out of the shops because he didn’t want unworthy people to read it. On her way home she passed his house and came across his dog who followed her home. After bringing him back to Brennan’s house she could see that he wanted to go inside, so for some odd reason she decided to go inside. This is where her passion really came into play, as she stood inside this strangers empty house and undressed in front of the mirror and the dog. She sees herself differently, she seen who she wanted to be. “There in the silence with the sunlight outside she stood slender and half-naked, the missing image of herself, of all women.” (Pg 42) The dog symbolized something she wanted to be, the freeness she felt, and the youth. “My life has meant nothing” (pg 44) I feel like the dog, and what she did in his presence, showed her that she was living a life she didn’t want to be living, just like Phil was doing in…show more content…
This is when Lurie himself, and his passions began to change. He started helping Lucy, and helping Bev Shaw at the animal clinic. He began to feel for the animals, something that I don’t think would have ever happened if he had stayed where he was. I think the biggest turning point in this novel, was after the attack at Lucy’s. After Lucy was attacked and raped, Lurie was so passionate about getting justice. However, earlier in the novel when Melanie Isaac’s father had come to want justice for his own daughter, Lurie just walked away like it was nothing, like the father didn’t deserve his time. David wants so badly for Lucy to go to the police with what has happened to her. “Do you think what happened here was an exam: if you come through, you get a diploma and safe conduct onto the future, or a sign to paint on the door-lintel that will make the little plague pass you by? That is not how vengeance works, Lucy. Vengeance is like a fire, the more it devours, the hungrier it gets”. (Pg112) I feel like David suddenly seen things from a different point of view. Instead of seeing a situation as a man filled with desire for a woman, he’s seeing what Mr. Isaacs seen when the situation was involving his daughter. Throughout Disgrace David Lurie battled with passion continuously. Whether it was about his desires for beautiful women, or about revenge for his daughter. There

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