Name : Minkal Italiya
Sem-4
Roll
No. 17
S.B.Gardi
Department of English,MKBU
Changing Identities of Magistrate in Coetzee’s
“Waiting for the Barbarians”
Introduction:
"Waiting for the Barbarians" is fable of post-colonial
literature written by twice Booker Prize winner novelist, linguistic and critic
J.M.Coetzee. Along with Booker prize, he also won Nobel Prize in literature in
2003, Jerusalemn Prize, CAN Prize and many others as well. He is a man who not
only talks about engaging narrative stories but also takes up socio-political
issues in different ways and he stands against apartheid movement as well. As
far as post-colonial reading of the novel is concerned it reveals the unequal
power relations based on binary opposition; other and self, is and them,
colonizer and colonized, master and slave, torturer and tortured, civilized and
savage. Though no matter however times you read Coetzee's "Waiting for
Barbarians" from post colonial perspective, every time you come up with
new ideas.
The novel sets in unnamed unspecified geographic place
and reflects the racism and fear of an Empire with an imagined enemy within the
unnamed place. The entire story expose through the first person narrative as
unnamed magistrate who serves as a binary model of self and the other and
narrate the story. In Coetzee's words, Waiting for the Barbarians is a
novel about "the impact of the
torture chamber on the life of a man of conscience".
Construction of "OTHER"
As Michel Foucault pointed out that idea of other or inferior is always constructed by the people in power position and the same can be observed in the Coetzee's "Waiting for the Barbarian". Through this novel Coetzee offers us a number of insights into the dark fascination of wester mind. The very much construction of identity of otherness is something that serves as an irony to the title, theme and plot of the novel because it was created by people in power in order to fashioning themselves as civilized or human. In the novel both 'colonizer' and 'colonized' assigned as barbarian in different ways. Basically the Empire represents the civilized people. With the spreading rumour that Barbarians are planning to attack on Empire, it becomes Empire's duty to guard its limit embodied as the town, against the fear of barbarian- the other.
In the novel Colonel Joll is a secret member
of third bureau who represents the empire as he is going from one town to
another to check whether the army is needed or not. From the starting point of
the novel Colonel Joll is emerging out as cruel representative of Empire with
having such a hatred towards native people. He didn't even left any chance to
torture the 'other' people of the town, in fact his gruesome torture cause
death of many native people. While reading the novel, with the course of
narration it seems that state violence is equally barbaric although validated
in the name of law. This binary opposition of torture and tortured to gain
truth shows the widely accepted idea that post colonialism requires the use of
violence to gain power. Under the such torture some situation the real identity
of Magistrate becomes mysterious as he serves as a binary model of self and
other. At a certain level along with barbarian girl, magistrate is also seen as
other.
Portrayal of Magistrate
What seems most interesting in the novel is the
character study of Magistrate. There are three major events which helps in
unfolding the real identity of Magistrate. Protagonist of the novel, the
Magistrate has responsibility and authority for maintaining the outpost for the
service of the Empire but he loses his power with the arrival of Colonel Joll.
Furthermore, Magistrate protests the unjust treatments of the so called
barbarians. He firmly insists that the torture of innocent tribesmen be stopped
because it is a crime against humanity. Unlike the other men of Empire, he is
venturing out into a alien territory of the barbaric and also lives on the
other side of desert which is apart from empire. His act of living in isolated
desert without his fellow men as well as his act of protesting the barbarian
people locates him as a enemy of third bureau or Empire and supported or well-wisher
of so called barbaric people. Not only he opposed torture some act of Colonol
Joll but also tries to investigate the true reason behind old man's death who
dies due to torture of Colonel Joll. This is the point when we start to
sympathize with Magistrate.
But Magistrate's relationship with the barbarian girl is more interesting. Barbarian girl is victim of Colonel Joll's torture who is left behind by her own folk at outpost after the release from prisoner. Magistrate finds this demi blinded, disfigured girl who was begging at outside of town. He decides to take care of her and invitees her to come with him. He invites her to come in his room and tries to cure her pain. He is attracted to her deformed tortured body. But what magistrate says is that he is not attracted towards her body. Really is it?
First comes the ritual of the washing, for which she now naked. I wash her feet, as before, her legs, her buttocks. My soapy hand travels between her thighs, incuriously, I find.
It almost becomes routine for him to oil the body of
girl and tries to cure her pain. Though manier times asked girl about her scar,
she never answered him. If we see this from feminist perspective or
postcolonial perspective it is something that reveals the real identity of
Magistrate. That room of Magistrate becomes a torture room for Blind girl. It
exposes the relationship between the authoritarianism and its victims. Though
the Magistrate performed washing rituals and tries to discover the reason
behind his scars. But did the girls ask him for help? Did she give approval to
him for healing her scar?
She lies on the bed and I rub her body with almond oil. I close my eyes and lose myself in the rhythm of the rubbing, while the fire, piled high, roars in the grate.
-
(Waiting for the Barbarians)
The blind nomad girl never tries to communicate with
Magistrate but then even he continues to healing her pain. This is the act of
Colonization.
I
feel no desire to enter his stocky little body glistening by now in the
firelight. It is a week since words have passed between us. I feed her, I
shelter her, use her body, if that is what I am doing, in this foreign way.
-(Magistrate, Waiting for the Barbarians)
Though Magistrate might be unaware of it, blind girl's
body was being colonized by empire, by magistrate. In his act of washing the
traves away from girl's body, he tried to occupied the right over girl's body.
He says that he is treating her like a child. But really is it? Finally, when
he gets not any kinds of information from girl he decided to return her back to
her community. He adopts a completely unknown route to reach to the northern
mountains, deserting the more regular trail. It is more significant in the
sense that it is not only geographical journey but the end result of the
process of colonization, finally the Magistrate would have been succeeded in
dominate the girl’s body. While he was
on the land of the girl and of that other, he became intimated with the girl.
'...in the desert of the
otherness, their bodies wipe away the inhibitions and became hospitable towards
each other's jouissance'
There are many articles which suggest that this very
much act is kindness of Magistrate towards the nomad girl or their act of
intimacy was a respecting act of his gratitude and love towards other's land. But rather than that, this act is about body
politics; where ultimately magistrate started to dominate nomad girl. Neither
it is the act of his love towards girl nor it is an act of his respect towards
land or girl. It seems that the body of the girl was colonized by colonizer.
His act of helping the nomad blind girl was slowly and steadily gave birth to
the dominance. Blind nomad girl suffers very much in dual otherness. Other as a
barbarian and other - woman in patriarchal culture. The nomad girl became
object of a masculine Scopophilic desire.
-Beckett, Waiting for Godot
As far as Magistrate’s act of helping to blind nomad girl is concerned, it can be said that Magistrate himself has a deep desire to colonize the land but he acted as being a supporter of the Barbarian people and when he got a chance to take care of blind girl, he fulfilled his desire by colonizing the body of ‘Other’-the barbarian girl.
Thus after re-reading
of the novel from post-colonial
or feminist perspective,
we can Say that Magistrate is the character which is emerging out as barbaric
character at the end of the novel. Though he was intended to help blind girl,
he never asked her whether she wanted his help or not. This very much act of
helping her without taking her permission indicates that in one or another way
he wanted to satisfy her masculine desire or rather he wanted to satisfy his
desire to dominant the land of native people. His act of being for others-other
is in-fact his act of satisfying his own selfishness and the Barbarian girl
became victim of it.
References
AYTEMIZ, PELIN. "VICTIMS OF THE
EMPIRE: AN ANALYSIS ON COETZEE'S WAITING FOR THE BARBARIANS ." 29th
December 2016. worldresearchlibrary.org.web.
<http://www.worldresearchlibrary.org/up_proc/pdf/563-14853468026-10.pdf>.
Attwell, David. "‘A New Footing’: Re-reading the
Barbarian Girl in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians." July 2019. Researchgate.
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334664982_'A_New_Footing'_Re-reading_the_Barbarian_Girl_in_Coetzee's_Waiting_for_the_Barbarians>.
Sarkar, Jayjit. "Construction of the other in J.M.
Coetzee’s waiting for the Barbarians." International Journal of Applied
Research (2016): 3.
<http://www.allresearchjournal.com/archives/2016/vol2issue3/PartE/2-2-166.pdf>.
Coetzee, James. WAITING FOR THE BARBARIAN.
1980.
<https://archive.org/stream/waitingforbarbar01coet/waitingforbarbar01coet_djvu.txt>.
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