"Not rape, not quite that, but undesired nevertheless, undesired to the core. As though she had decided to go… — J. M. Coetzee
"Not rape, not quite that, but undesired nevertheless, undesired to the core. As though she had decided to go slack, die within herself for the duration, like a rabbit when the jaws of the fox close on its neck. So that everything done to her might be done, as it were, far away."
p. 25Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Because he takes pleasure in her, because his pleasure is unfailing, an affection has grown up in him for her. To some degree, he believes, this affection is reciprocated. Affection may not be love, but it is at least its cousin.
Talking to Petrus is like punching a bag of sand.
'Are you giving him up?'
'Yes, I am giving him up.'
"Why? Because a woman's beauty does not belong to her alone. It is part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it."
p. 16
