The metaphorical aspect in J. M. Coetzee‘s Age of Iron (1990)

Abstract

The present study aims at examining the metaphorical aspect in J. M. Coetzee’s Age of Iron. To make the investigation a purposeful one, the Psychoanalytic approach is employed taken Displacement as a means of coexistence and adaptation. The study also seeks to underscore how J. M. Coetzee employs the Psychoanalytic approach in portraying the character of Elizabeth Curren –the protagonist- to convey his contempt toward the oppressive practices of the ruling system of Apartheid in South Africa. In the present novel, Coetzee presents a model of a female white character who is not in line with the practices of the system. Mrs. Curren finds a means of revealing her suppressed feelings in writing a confessional letter to her daughter because of her inability to openly express her adverse attitude toward the ruling system in her community. In a word, the main objective of the study lies in exploring J. M. Coetzee’s vision of the dilemma of both the oppressed and the oppressor South Africans through Metaphor of the body of both the protagonist and the system to convey the theme of his novel.