Point of View

The book is written in the third person. It presents somewhat of a neutral tone, the author making sure that the reader sees all aspects of each situation. However, since the main character is David Lurie, everything we observe happens through his eyes. We get numerous insights into David's thoughts, but no one else's. All of the other characters are presented to the reader from David's perspective.

Setting

The story is set in South Africa. The first half of the novel takes place in the city of Cape Town. It is here where David lives his lonely life and goes to see a prostitute weekly. At Cape Technical University, David is a professor of communications. In one of his classes he meets a student, Melanie Isaacs, who he has relations with. Melanie reports him to the school board and David has to leave his teaching position...