Abstract

The novel “Elizabeth Costello,” by the writer J. M. Coetzee contains the chapter “At the Gate,” in which there is a description of Costello’s judgment. At the end of her life, she needs to write a final statement on her own beliefs. She is in front of the gate and wants to cross it. Costello keeps her position that a writer must not have fixed beliefs, but provisional beliefs. This article aims to analyze the role of a writer, the writer’s provisional beliefs, negation, the freedom a writer has in literature, and the abandonment of belief and incredulity, using the framework provided by Blanchot, Derrida, and Merleau-Ponty. After many attempts to cross the gate, Costello sees the other gate’s side, but because of the inquietude of special fidelities, her crossing is unreliable.