Waiting for the Barbarians

Level Three Written Text

Waiting for the Barbarians

Essay Question: Central to the purpose of a text is the examination of a relationship in conflict.

Waiting for the Barbarians is a text which allows readers to question the nature and purpose of truth in societies where everything is open to interpretation and everyone has a motive. The relationship between the Empire and the “Barbarians” is of abstract nature once examined is central to understanding Coetzee’s idea in the text that truth is subjective. He shows that truth is a blurred line, constantly changing depending on the needs of the Empire. More interestingly it is the way truth is presented in the text which has deeper commentary on the society we live in. Coetzee shows that through the use of bureaucratic prose and language the Colonel is able to twist reality to suit a purpose, distancing the empire and himself from their actions while simultaneously acting solely for the needs of the Empire. The author also shows that the nature of truth is open to interpretation. Colonel Joll’s idea that pain is truth, shows that through manipulation of the physical/pain side you can bend the truth of subjects. It is through the way in which the truth is manipulated that you can see agendas. For the Empire, it is the fabrication of the Barbarians which it needs in order for its empire to function, for without the other, is the empire’s control and rule necessary?

It is the manipulation of the “truth” which shows the true intentions of the Empire. The text explores this in the beginning of the book where the narrator/magistrate examines the the purpose of truth and how to find it. Colonel Joll, from the third bureau of the Empire is introduced in “Two little discs of glass suspended in front of his eyes in loops of wire. Is he blind.” The introduction of Joll is interesting, he is distanced from the narrator physically by the weird accessories he choses to wear which alienate him from the outpost population but also by his position as someone from the “Third Bureau”. This distance created implies some form of objectivity and fresh thinking from the Colonel. The glasses impair Joll’s vision, and the narrator is unable to understand the reasons behind why Joll would want impaired vision. “They protect one's eyes from the glare of the sun.” Joll says in response. The glasses are a metaphor for Joll’s vision of truth, what he see is through the eyes of the Empire rather than the reality. Stevan Bradic supports this idea with “his perception of the border outpost on the fringes of the desert remains the same as in the capital city, for which he stands.” Joll may have left the capitol but his glasses allow him to function within its mindset. “His work is to find the truth” implies that the truth is a definite concept, something which can be found, instead of an abstract noun.

Coetzee presents truth in a different light as Joll continues his investigation into the truth. Joll suggests that truth can be found through pain in the line “Pain is truth. All else is subject to doubt.” Joll is suggesting that to see the reality you must inflict pain. “first I get lies, you see - first lies then pressure then more lies then more pressure then the break. Then more pressure and then finally the truth.” Joll’s manipulation of the truth is through pain. By pressuring his subjects he is able to twist their version of their story to be reported back to the capitol. Therefore, Joll is able to hear whatever he wants and is able to justify any military exercise. The use of pain to find the truth is also useful for it suggests that the population on the edge of the frontier are dishonest if pain must be used. This further justifies the need to retain control of the area. When explaining to the Magistrate Joll describes the tone of truth “There is a certain tone, a certain tone enters the voice of a man who is telling the truth.” This tone to Joll is the lines the capital wants to hear, to others without an agenda, it is the subject giving in to the pressure of the Colonels pain. While Joll tortures his subjects, he also distances himself from the acts. “We have set procedures to go through” is a line Joll uses to normalise the acts of manipulation to the Magistrate.

Using the character of the Barbarian Woman and the fall from grace of the Magistrate the author is able to show how the subjectivity of truth is useful. The relationship between the Empire and the “barbarians” is one of imposed conflict. Through this relationship between the Barbarians and the Capitol we can examine the relation between “truth” and reality. By using a construct such as truth (which is usually set as definite) Joll is able to mislead the capitol and the outposts residents on the highest level to fear the barbarian invasion. “The Barbarians come out at night.” shows the sense of fear that the citizens of the outpost feel, however this is contrasted by the fact the barbarians are never seen. By using night/darkness/mystery, the empire can perpetuate the myth of the barbarians and is not limited by reality. The first mention of Barbarians is “last year stories began to reach us from the capitol of unrest amongst Barbarians.” Word of Barbarians only ever comes from those associated with the capital such as Joll or capital travelers. The Barbarians are manufactured by the capital to define the need for Empire. The outpost lurches on being a blurr between fishing people and those in the settlement so by declaring war, the empire sets a clear border between the empire and the other. Furthermore, the empire manufactures this war so that people remain reliant on the empire for protection, even though barbarians are no threat at all.  By initiating these wars through official channels and bureaucratic prose, the public believe to all intents and purposes the fight is real. Waiting for the Barbarians is a text about the “other”, what it is to not be them. The Barbarian girl is reduced to an experiment for the Magistrate rather than to help him understand their people. Stevan Bradic argues that WFTB is a colonial text, in the process of the Barbarian women being accepted in this new culture she is given law, finance, and other constructs while at the same time being denied an opinion. bradic also argues that the Magistrate “approaches her not for her own sake but for the sake of the Empire.” suggesting that the empire feels an inherent need to colonise or destroy the “other”. But the empire never does detory the other and Bradic claims this is the brilliance behind the Barbarians, as they never really existed, they couldn’t be destroyed. The empire can constantly reassert its power on the outpost by rallied fears of Barbariains and so the conflict and the relationship are all about the control of the empire. Through this shift of power, the empire is able to introduce a new magistrate, Joll, and undermine legal and social constructs under the name “emergency powers”. “War has become the primary organising instinct of society.”