Waiting for the Barbarians

Hello reader,

her my blog part of activity. Given by my sir, This blog sumitted to Department of  English Maharaja KruashnKumarsinhji Bhavnagar University.

About John Maxwell Coetzee:-

• J.M.Coetzee bron 9 February 1940 is a South African born novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature.

• He has  also won the Booker Prize, the Jerusalem Prize, CNA Prize , the Prix De mina etranger, The Irish Times international fiction prize, and other awards and honorary doctorates.

Plot summary:-

Waiting for the Barbarians :-

• Waiting for the Barbarians tells the story of an unnamed magistrate, or judge, living in a remote outpost of the Empire. The magistrate lives a relatively quiet, uneventful life until being visited by Colonel Jollibee. Holl represents the Empire as he travels from town to town searching for news of the barbarians who live outside the Empire 's borders. Rumors have spread that the barbarians are planning an attack against the Empire.

• Colonel Jollibee has been dispatched to investigate whether military action is needed. While visiting the magistrate's town, two barbarian men are found near the granary, where some grain has gone missing. Joll brings the men in for questioning, and the older man dies. The magistrate later learns that, under the duress of torture, the younger man had falsely admitted to knowing of an impending barbarian uprising .

• With this "knowledge," Joll has the ammunition he needs to launch a full-scale attack against the barbarians. The magistrate then feels compelled to investigate how the old man died and learns he died as a result of Jill's barbaric torture. A few weeks later Joll and his men return with nomadic prisoners, whom they originally believe to be part of barbarian tribes. Joll plans to question the nomads about barbarian activity even though the magistrate insists it will be fruitless. More prisoners die, and eventually the surviving nomads are released. Discouraged by the scarcity of information gathered, Joll returns to the Empire.

The magistrate Befriends the Girl

• The magistrate assumes that the matter has been closed and thinks little of the prisoners. The he happens to see one of the female prisoners, whom he refers to as the "barbarian girl" begging outside the town gate. The girl is blind, and she walks using sticks to support her hobbled feet, which have been broken at the ankles. The magistrate recognizes her as a victim of Jill's torture. He invites the girl to move in with him, offering her a job as a scullery maid at the nearby inn.

• In an action that is not overtly sexual, the magistrate massages the girl each night, taking special interest in her injuries, despite the magistrate's probing question and he falls asleep quickly after the messages. Eventually, the magistrate decided to return the barbarian girl to her nomadic family in the desert. He bands together three soldiers to accompany them on their dangerous journey, and they set off.

• The journey presents many challenges, particularly from the dangerous weather. Along the way the magistrate and the girl have sex for the first time, and the magistrate questions whether he loves the girl. They eventually catch up with other nomads, whom the magistrate pays to return the girl to her family. He and the soldiers make the treacherous journey back to town.

• When they arrive, soldiers ride out and arrest them on the spot. Colonel Jollibee had returned earlier and, upon learning of the magistrate's journey to the desert, had issued a warrant for his arrest. The magistrate is charged with consorting with the enemy. He is also charged with passing information about the Empire 's attack to the barbarian. Warrant officer Mandel a particularly violent, sadistic officer, is put in charge of the magistrate's case.

The magistrate becomes a prisoner

• Mandel tries to break the magistrate down by holding him in solitary confinement, withholding food, and limiting exercise. Around the same time, Hollands another group of nomads to the town for "questioning" . As soon as they arrive, the prisoners aren't the barbarian but that the "barbarian" lives inside everyone. After the magistrate attempts to stop the cruel beatings of the innocent prisoners, Mandel turns his attention to the magistrate's himself.

• He beats, starves and humiliates the magistrate without ever questioning him, simply to send a message of power. The torture culminates when Mandel pretends to hang the magistrate but deliberate does not place the rope high enough. The ruse is a joke for the entertainment of the townsfolk, which leaves the magistrate terribly injured and humiliatef. After this the magistrate skulks around town like a dog, begging for food and surviving off of small kindnesses.

• At the same time, fears of an impending barbarian invasion grow. It has been months since the Empire 's soldiers began to hunt down the barbarian but there have been no report of their progress. The guards grow arrogant, stealing from the shops and disrepecting the townsfolk. Many people leave, fearing the worst. Through their use of torture and maltreatment of the townsfolk, it becomes clear that the " barbarians" are not the outsiders, but the colonizers.

The Magistrate's Transformation

• Three months after their original departure, two soldiers from Jill's expedition return. Seeing their horses from a distance, the townsfolk assume this means the barbarians have been defeated, and they excitedly rush to greet the retuning soldiers. As the horses approach, however the townsfolk realize with horror that one of the soldiers has been crucified and the dead soldier is actually a message of defeat.

• Panic erupts Mandel and his soldiers abandon the townsfolk, stealing their stores of food their livestock and all their bread

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