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Melanie’s father. Not long after he has sex with Melanie for the final time, David receives a call from Mr. Isaacs, who asks him to talk to Melanie because she has apparently decided to drop out of school. Since Melanie has always spoken highly of David, Mr. Isaacs wants him to be the one to approach her about this decision. Two days later, Mr. Isaacs appears at the university and confronts David, having just found out about his relationship with Melanie. Angry and flustered, he shames David in front of a handful of students. It isn’t long after this encounter that David learns that Melanie has filed a sexual harassment complaint against him. Later, David visits Mr. Isaacs at his job as a school principal, and though Isaacs is thrown off by his presence, he invites him over for dinner with his wife and younger daughter, both of whom are very conflicted about meeting him, though Isaacs himself is rather welcoming.
Mr. Isaacs Quotes in Disgrace
The Disgrace quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Isaacs or refer to Mr. Isaacs. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 19 Quotes
One word more, then I am finished. It could have turned out differently, I believe, between the two of us, despite our ages. But there was something I failed to supply, something’—he hunts for the word—‘lyrical. I lack the lyrical. I manage love too well. Even when I burn I don’t sing, if you understand me. For which I am sorry. I am sorry for what I took your daughter through. You have a wonderful family. I apologize for the grief I have caused you and Mrs Isaacs. I ask for your pardon.
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David says this to Mr. Isaacs after having eaten dinner at Melanie’s house. In their final conversation, David apologizes for what he has done. The way he does this, however, is characteristically self-serving, as he focuses first and foremost on his own interests, primarily apologizing for his failure to properly “love” Melanie. Indeed, he begins by saying that he thinks “it could have turned out differently” between Melanie and himself—a thought that Mr. Isaacs surely has no interest in pursuing, since David is essentially suggesting not that he regrets what he did to Melanie, but that he didn’t do it Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit be
‘So,’ says Isaacs, ‘at last you have apologized. I wondered when it was coming.’ He ponders. He has not taken his seat; now he begins to pace up and down. ‘You are sorry. You lacked the lyrical, you say. If you had had the lyrical, we would not be where we are today. But I say to myself, we are all sorry when we are found out. Then we are very sorry. The question is not, are we sorry? The question is, what lesson have we learned? The question is, what are we going to do now that we are sorry?’
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After David apologizes for the pain he has caused the Isaacs family, Mr. Isaacs considers the very nature of his apology. First, he repeats David’s assertion that if he had not “lacked the lyrical,” things might have worked out with Melanie. By restating this in such a straightforward way, Mr. Isaacs calls attention to the absurdity of this argument, which is vague and pretentious without actually addressing the fact that it was wrong for David to pursue Melanie in the first place. More importantly, though, Mr. Isaacs turns his attention to what it means to be “sorry” after the fact. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possim
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Mr. Isaacs Character Timeline in Disgrace
The timeline below shows where the character Mr. Isaacs appears in Disgrace. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
...name on it, and an hour later receives a call from her father. “Professor,” Mr. Isaacs says, “I wonder if you can help us. Melanie has been such a good student,...
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One afternoon during this period, David is surprised to hear Mr. Isaacs’s voice behind him in the department’s common space. “Professor,” Isaacs says in front of several...
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Chapter 19
David goes to Melanie’s home in search of Mr. Isaacs, but Melanie’s little sister tells him he isn’t home yet, so David drives to the...
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...the nature of “fire,” talking about how people used to “worship” it. Before long, Mr. Isaacs asks why David has come just to tell these “stories,” and David apologizes. He then...
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...dinner that night, Melanie’s mother and sister are awkward and uncomfortable around David, but Mr. Isaacs is kind and welcoming. Throughout the meal, conversation is stiff, and at the end of...
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Having listened to Isaacs’s statement about God, David asks if he thinks it’s “enough for God” if he (David)...
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