Waiting for the Barbarians (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: J. M. Coetzee
- First Published: 1980
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth or early twentieth century
- Setting: A settlement on the frontier of an imaginary empire
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Political fiction
- Subjects: Values, Power, personal or social, Racism, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Violence, Good and evil, Cruelty, Government, Torture, Frontier or pioneer life, Apartheid
Characters Discussed
The Magistrate, the story’s first- person narrator, an administrator of a territory belonging to an unnamed empire. He is an aging and somewhat decadent man who explains that he has lived in the remote settlement for decades and has haphazardly and inefficiently carried out his administrative duties on behalf of the empire. Although he admits to his laziness, his fondness for young native girls, and his satisfaction with the old ways of imperialism, he still emerges as an admirable and sympathetic character. When he comprehends the full extent of the...
[The entire page is 534 words long]
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