As I read Lurie’s character, I find myself entirely perplexed. Do I sympathize with him because he believes that his actions are justified? Or am I horrified that in claiming that he has “solved the problem of sex” he designates sex as a “problem” in the first place? I’m sure that I do not speak solely for myself when I say that sex isn’t typically thought of as a problem; for most it is pleasant to come across, but not heinously problematic to survive without. To tie into Andrew’s post about rituals, I feel as though, for David, sex in and of itself is a sort of ritual and therefore it transforms into a problem that he must solve in order to keep what he perceives as the flow of his life moving forwards. Ironically, it is the fault in his ritualistic behavior that moves him towards a new understanding of existence, as he leaves his school/scene of the crime and takes up residence with Lucy.
On a side note, I am absolutely in love with Liza’s claim that we all fear the prison of not following our own nature. Often, on smaller scale levels than rape, one’s fear of suppressing one’s own personal desires manifests itself so deeply in one’s mind (and later in the actions that one takes to fulfill said desires) that an ability to see the consequences of one’s actions becomes impossible. Rather than acting rationally and keeping the thought of the other person in the equation in mind, desire outweighs rationality.
South African Literature After Apartheid 