Waiting for the barbarians

Waiting for the barbarians - J.M. Coetzee

We can say that major theme of Waiting for the barbarians is imperialism. The empire sees nomadic people as their enemies without any reason and torture them very brutally.

Protagonist unnamed magistrate of the frontier is a good natured man who wanted to live peacefully. But empire's new police the third bureau believe that barbains are planning to attach on frontier regions. Colonel Joll is appointed to investigate this matter. His ways of interrogating people are so cruel. He catches sins fishers and nomads and torture them and kills also. When they released one blind barbarian girl remain in village and start begging. She was not able to walk or see because of torturing. Magistrate feels sympathy for her and take her into his room. He starts to feel sexual desire and decided to return her to her own people.

Magistrate with two soldiers starts journey toward desert. They face difficulties but finally reach there. Magistrate falls in love with barbarian girl and propose her to come back with him. The girl chooses to stay with nomads.

When magistrate returns, a man from third bureau officer Mandle was appointed on his place. Magistrate is imprisoned for charges of treason and tortured. Joll catches some more nomads and tortures them in public. When magistrate demands to stop he also tortured in public.

Joll go to fight with barbarians with soldiers Magistrate begins to beg. He learns that barbarians are coming to attack. People start to leave the town. Mandale also leaves. Magistrate returns to his room. Joll returns in carriage. One of the soldiers tells that they starved in desert and they never faced barbarians. Magistrate remains with a few townspeople and three soldiers in the end of the novel.

Comments

To the Indians who died in South Africa - T.S. Eliot

A man's destination is his own village, His own fire, and his wife's cooking; To sit in front of his own door at sunset And see his grandson, and his neighbour's grandson Playing in the dust together. Scarred but secure, he has many memories Which return at the hour of conversation, (The warm or the cool hour, according to the climate) Of foreign men, who fought in foreign places, Foreign to each other. A man's destination is not his destiny, Every country is home to one man And exile to another. Where a man dies bravely At one with his destiny, that soil is his. Let his village remember. This was not your land, or ours: but a village in the Midlands, And one in the Five Rivers, may have the same graveyard. Let those who go home tell the same story of you: Of action with a common purpose, action None the less fruitful if neither you nor we Know, unt...

The Old Woman - Joseph Campbell

'The Old Woman' is simple and short poem by Joseph Campbell where he compares old woman with different things and describes her. The poem has three stanzas. .In the first stanza , the poet compares the old lady with the white candle. White colour is symbol of peace and candle is symbol of light. The old woman is like white candle. She is in peace and she gives other people light by his experiences. She is able to show right path who need that. In the second stanza, the poet compares the old lady with the spent radiance of the winter's sun. It refers old woman's long life. But now she is old like winter's sun, but she has gathered a wide experience of life. Poet writes, "A woman with her travail done" In last stanza, the poet compares the old woman with the water under the ruined mill. The water is still under the ruined mill and by comparing this poet writes about the old lady that her all sons has gone, they do not live with her. But she has all the...

Joy and woe woven are fine - William Blake

In this short poem William Blake wants to give message that joy and grief, both are part of life and both are good. He says joy and woe are woven fine. Woven means things which are attached to each other. Both happiness and grief are fine. They are cloths of our soul. In every grief, there are also joy we need to find it. We are not here for only happiness or for only pain. But we are made for both. And when we know that joy and woe both are part of our life, we can live happily in grief also. So, in this poem poet wants to tell that accept both joy and pain. Do not become unhappy when sad moments come, there are always happy moments also. Know that both are part of everyone's life and live happily. That is all poet wants to say in the poem.

Ajit Kaliya

Search This Blog