Coetzee's Life and Times of Michael K

The novel Life and Times of Michael K, by J. M. Coetzee, has left several impressions on my mind. The title of the novel is ironical. This novel can be analyzed from different critical the points of view like anti-war criticism, postcolonial criticism, eco-criticism and psychoanalytic criticism.

The title of the novel is ironical. Because, the title Life and Times of Michael K seems very formal and the readers expect 

a novel about some historical facts. But, the novel is very informal like its protagonist Michael K. The novel does not mention any specific date. The novelist seems make the setting of time of the novel obscure to indicate that the theme of the novel is universal. War can happen at any time, in any place and it would inflict the same impacts.

Life and Times of Michael K can be analyzed as an anti-war novel. Because, the novel shows negative physical and mental impacts of war. For example, in the war situation, Michael’s hare lip is not important and it has not been operated. And, it creates both physical inability to speak properly and mental inferiority complex or self-consciousness in Michael. Again, in the war time, Anna K and other elderly sick people are not taken care of properly by the hospital staffs as they are not more important than the war. They are left to die. And, for Michael, it creates a great mental trauma, because, he does not understand such politics. And, the novelist shows how the soldiers, in war time, steal money from helpless people like Michael.

And this novel also shows Michael’s silent protest against war when he refuses the foods provided by the military hospital.

Life and Times of Michael K can be analyzed from the point of view of the postcolonial critical theory. For example, the apartheid system of the colonial era is still present in the apparently independent South Africa during the civil war of the 1970s. And this apartheid system is responsible for Michael’s mother’s unfulfilled wish to die in her childhood town Prince Albert and Michael’s subsequent mental trauma.

Again, in the farm in Karoo, Michael is a representative of colonized people and the grandson of Visagie is a representative of the colonizers. The grandson of Visagie tries to make a colony in his farm with Michael as his slave or colonized person. But, Coetzee shows his postcolonial resistance by showing Michael’s detestation towards servitude as he leaves the Visagie farm. Again, Michael refuges to be “caged” like a “creature” by fleeing from Jakkalsdrif Relocation Camp, the military hospital in Kennilworth.

Life and Times of Michael K can also be analyzed from the eco-critical point of view. The novel shows how the war destroys nature. For example, the soldiers destroy the vegetable garden of Michael in the Visagie farm in Karoo by dynamite. This is another reason of Michael’s resentment of the soldiers, even the Medical Officer who is a part of the destructive system of war.

Life and Times of Michael K can be analyzed from the point of view of psychoanalytic criticism. For example, the protagonist’s unusual behaviors and refusal to eat can be analyzed by using the Freudian psychoanalytic terms – ego, id, Eros and Thanatos. In his ego or the conscious part of his mind, Michael blames himself for his mother’s failure to return to her childhood town and even for her death as he believes that he has been brought into this world to look after his mother. And, as he has failed to protect his mother, he does not want to get married and father any child. He does not want to take any more responsibility. He resists his attraction to a girl in Jakkalsdrif Relocation Camp for this reason and also for his inferiority complex regarding his hare lip. And, he also does not have any friend and he does not like books which can be great companions. He also loses faith and belief because of his brutal experiences. Any religious or other kind of beliefs can provide peace to one’s mind.

In his id or unconscious part of his mind, after losing his only friend and companion - his mother, Michael wants to die. Because, he has no one and nothing to live for; no one who would cry if he dies. Even after harvesting the vegetables in the Visagie farm, Michael does not eat. Because, it is impossible to be happy if the happiness is not shared with anyone. And, his id or unconscious part of his mind also wants to be free after spending in so many “cages” from childhood. So, he refuses the food of military hospital which is a prison for him.

Michael’s lack of Eros or sex-drive is also responsible for his unusual behavior. If he had Eros or sex-drive, he would have will to live as according to medical science, sexual fulfillment is necessary for physical and mental health of human beings. But, Michael’s Thanatos or death-wish overcomes his Eros. So, he stops eating, talking and wants to live alone or free.

In fine, I would like to comment that the novel Life and Times of Michael K, by J. M. Coetzee, is an anti-war, postcolonial, eco-critical and psychoanalytic novel.