Coetzee allows the characters to speak for themselves through the reliance on dialogue with minimal authorial interruption.
The story is seen through David Lurie's eyes, whose thoughts are related frequently.
This creates a certain distance from the other characters as Lurie attempts to understand his own feelings towards his situation and subsequently to understand the actions of the other characters. As the novel unfolds, Lurie increasingly escapes into his opera. Towards the end of the novel,.....
