Empathy as a Step to Divinity: A Study of Coetzee’s Elizabeth Costello

Authors

  • Dr. J. Ravindranath Associate Professor of English, GVP College of Engineering (Autonomous), Madhurawada, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

Keywords:

Tyrannical, Cynical, Human empathy, Humanity

Abstract

The present article explores how wilful ignorance could lead to lack of empathy on the part of humans in relation to other humans and species. It also brings out how Coetzee has succeeded in stretching human reason and imagination further to appreciate the sanctity of life of one and all. He probes the answers to the critical question through portraying the real and imaginative interaction among animals, mortals and imaginary immortals in literature. Coetzee’s novel seems to be a crusade for the defenceless animals and humans against the victorious and tyrannical humans. The wilful ignorance of anguish of life—be they animals or humans and cynical reasoning is bereft of understanding and cripples human empathy that alone can lift humanity from its present state to angelic state.

References

Gareth Cornwell, "He and His Man": Allegory and Catachresis in J. M. Coetzee's Nobel Lecture. English in Africa (May 1, 2007).Web.

Michael Valdez Moses, "King of the Amphibians": Elizabeth Costello and Coetzee's Metamorphoric Fictions. Journal of Literary Studies (2009). Web.

David Attwell, An exclusive interview with J M Coetzee. http://www.dn.se.Stories/stories.-misc/nobel-2003.

Jane Poyner, Intro.http://www.ohioswallow.com/extras/0821416863_intro.pdf . pp. 4-5.

Jane Poyner, Intro.http://www.ohioswallow.com/extras/0821416863_intro.pdf. p. 14.

Elizabeth Macfarlane, “Elizabeth Costello and the Ethics of Embodiment” New Scholar 1.1 (Spring 2011) pp.8-9. Web.

Nikil Saval, “Show a Man What He Eats: On Vegetarianism.” http://nplusone.mag.com/ 14 Feb.2007

David Lodge, “Disturbing the Peace.” http://www.nybooks,com/issues/2003/nov/20/

Mikita Brottman, “Four Legs Good: Animals and the Posthuman”. http://hplusmagazine.com/2012/01/26/four-legs-good-animals-and-the-posthuman/

David Lodge, “Disturbing the Peace.” http://www.nybooks,com/issues/2003/nov/20/

Amartya Sen, The Idea of Justice. London: Allen Lane penguin Books, 2009.205.

Downloads

Published

01.10.2012

How to Cite

J. Ravindranath. (2012). Empathy as a Step to Divinity: A Study of Coetzee’s Elizabeth Costello. Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature, 4(2), 8–14. Retrieved from https://journals.eltai.in/index.php/jtrel/article/view/JTREL040203

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2012): October

Section

Research Articles

License

Articles are the intellectual property of the authors. The Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature does not take ownership of the copyright of any published article. Authors retain the copyright to their articles and may republish these articles as part of a book or other materials. However, while republishing an article published in JTREL, the author must ensure that the following conditions have been met:

  • The source of the publication (the title, volume, number and URL of the Journal) should be acknowledged.
  • The article will remain published on the JTREL website (except on the occasion of a retraction of the article) and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
  • We do not allow the distribution and transmission of plagiaristic works based on the articles that appear in our journal.
  • Readers may not use the articles for commercial purposes unless they get the written permission of the author and publisher. To disseminate copies for commercial purposes, write to editor.JTREL@gmail.com