Coetzee is known as one of South Africa's foremost authors. His fiction does not always take place within South Africa, but in this story, the city and countryside of Cape Town is a primary focus. The country is attempting to recover from apartheid, the effects of which are far from being over. The process of change, socially and personally, is important in this story, and the ways in which people adapt to tragedies of all sorts is a significant theme. The discovery of processes of dealing with difficulties makes up the main action of the story.

1. Throughout the story, Coetzee, when referring to Lurie, only uses "he." The only way that the reader finds out his name is through other characters' dialogue. Why would Coetzee do this? In addition, is there significance in the fact that Lucy calls her father only by his first name?

2. Lurie's...