Waiting for the barbarian

Waiting for the barbarian

1. About : Author

He was born on 9 February 1940.John Maxwell Coetzee is a South African. He was novelists e, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature.Coetzee's firstn novel was Dusklands (1974) and he has continued to produce novels at the rate of about one every three years. He has also written autobiographical novels, such as Boyhood, Youth and Summertime, short fiction, translations from Dutch and Afrikaans, and numerous essays and works of criticism.

Plot- summary

The book opens with colonel joll and he comes with instructions that the Barbarians are coming. There is Magistrate who is leading character of the novel.The novel written between Irish movement and it is a post colonial text.Joll who want to control the Barbarians and he fights with magistrate many time.The magistrate does not buy the theory of a barbarian threat. He has been living in peace in his outpost for most of life, trading with the nomads who Joll sees as the enemy.The magistrate raise his voice and helps to poor people from colonel joll . At the end he had to pay and given punishment for his mistake.In between he has sexual relations with unnamed black girl.The ending of
the novel is open. We can interpret it our own.

Characters

1] The magistrate:-If we talk about The magistrate then we can see he is good and kind by heart and portrayed as a humble character. He goes against Empire and helps to tribal people yet he get punishment for it.Moroever we have a question that why he helps these people? Why he goes against Empire? Was there behind any selfish motive of him? Why he accepts a black girl. Was there only temptation of sexual desire or anything else? In a way, it is a open ended novel so we can put out many perspective.

2] Colonel joll:- So ,the Colonel joll is a officer of "Third Bureau" and The Empire. His character drawn as very cruel and without heart.He want to control Barbarians and want some kind of power for that he does many things , he torturers many people . Whether we have to judge this character as a good or bas because maybe he is doing by his duty or he doing by his own motive we can't say. So, he proved as a very strong and villian character.

3] A black girl:- A blind girl , whose father has been killed in front of her. She given space or place in a room where she cured. If we do feministic reading then it is normal that in all case if women is in trouble,there should be one hero who cures her and they have relation between them . Is it here also? The sympathy which he get she he to pay for it in form of sexual relations or what ? Was magistrate accept her by his heart.In real society this kind of magic never happened.

Central theme

Imperialism

One of the most prominent themes in waiting for the barbarians  imperialism. In the novel we see various dimensions of imperialist mentality and actions unveiled. The paranoia of the Empire reflects a more general existential condition of one group intending to impose its culture and political mandate on others. The creation of an enemy, or "other"—the nomad "barbarian"—reflects broader perceptions of a threat that serve to justify imperialist violence. The Empire's anxious need to constantly glorify itself sheds light on more universal narratives of imperialist magnificence and righteousness that again serve as justification of a mandate of power.
Colonialism

Distinct from imperialism, the theme of colonialism as a physical, territorial project with far-reaching implications plays out in Waiting for the Barbarians. The colonial process, as illustrated in the novel, is more than just a cultural or ideological 'imperialist' project; it is a violent physical one that plays out on the earth and on the bodies of the colonized. As it is represented in Waiting for the Barbarians, the experience of colonization impacts the many lives. We see the damage done to the tribal nomads, both in terms of the torture, trauma and violence inflicted on them as well as on the intrusion upon their migrant lifestyle. We also see the impact of colonialism on the earth, as the riverbanks burn, desertification sets in, the fisher people are uprooted and the fields are flooded. Colonialism, as it is shown in Waiting for the Barbarians, entails profound violence and disruption.
Male sexuality

One of the central themes in Waiting for the Barbarians is male sexuality. Along with being a story of colonial power and imperialism, the novel is an extended examination of the magistrate's sexuality and of the nature of male sexuality in general. In the case of the magistrate, sexuality is a socialized condition, closely linked to self-perception. In the times when he has power, his sexuality thrives. As his power wanes, so too does his libido. As existential questions begin to haunt him, his desire is similarly troubled. When he goes out on a long trek, stepping out of his society, he is the least inhibited. The barbarian girl's sexuality remains a mystery for the most part. It is the (distinctly male) sexuality of the magistrate that the novel most closely examines.