J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians isn’t about the barbarians; it’s about the waiting. The concept of waiting with all of the possible variations in the meaning of the word- expecting, anticipating, being ‘ready’ for- is what fascinates me most in this novel.
The residents of a desert outpost are led to believe by officials in the existence of barbarians and the imminent threat of their arrival. ‘Preparations’ are made in anticipation of that arrival – preparations in various forms of injustice- until a state of complete chaos and anarchy is created by the officials of the "Empire".
In this period of waiting, public life transforms from an ordinary state to a state of exceptional circumstances, where panic and confusion reign. Anything is possible in this state- nothing is too precious to give up, as no one is too strong to stand alone against this threat. And so, everyone, in unity, gives all they have to those who can ‘protect’ them against the threat of the unknown enemy. For what is life worth without the feeling of (national) ‘safety’, without the feeling of (national) ‘security’? Nobody really asks, “Who are these barbarians?” “Why would they want to hurt us?”
Nobody notices how that whole time, the barbarians have been right there. They arrived with the Colonel- the head barbarian, to abuse the people and their resources, to take what they could and move to another place, where, fortunately for them, no one knows yet what the enemy really looks like.
