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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Disgrace, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Desire and Power
Shame, Remorse, and Vanity
Violence and Empathy
Love and Support
Time and Change
Summary
Analysis
At the Animal Welfare League, David watches as Bev treats a wounded goat. After an initial inspection, she tells the animal’s owner that the goat is beyond her help. Although the owner could wait several days for the veterinarian to come, the animal probably won’t last that long, so Bev offers to put it down, but the owner refuses. When the owner leaves, Bev explains to David that they can’t “force” people to put down their animals, though it would be the kind thing to do. When David asks if she “minds” having to put down so many animals, she replies, “I do mind. I mind deeply. I wouldn’t want someone doing it for me who didn’t mind.” After a pause, David tells Bev that he has been “disgrace[d],” asking if she still wants his help. “If you are prepared…,” she says, but doesn’t finish.
Because David so often thinks only of himself, it’s worth noting that he’s now in a context that is all about helping others. Bev not only helps the people who bring her their pets, but also the animals themselves. Even when she has to kill one of the animals, she clearly does it with love and remorse, showing them empathy and kindness in the last moments of their life. It is perhaps because David recognizes how selfless and pure Bev has to be in order to do this job that he asks if he’s fit to help her. After all, he knows—at least on some level—that he isn’t selfless, so he wonders if he’ll be able to approach this task with the necessary amount of respect.
Themes
