E212: British Literature since 1760

J. M. Coetzee Study Questions

Al Drake | Uni Hall 329 | Th. 6:00-7:00 | ajdrake@ajdrake.com

Home | Syllabus | Policies

Assigned: selection from Waiting for the Barbarians (2829ff).

1. Why does Colonel Joll take a group of aborigines (the fishing people) prisoner? Is there more to his decision than ignorance of interrogation plans? Explain.

2. On 2831-32, what shift in attitude occurs in the narrator and his subordinates when the "fishing people" remain at the frontier post for some time?

3. On 2832, what regrets does the narrator reveal about his job as an official in an unnamed authoritatian regime?

4. On 2833-34, what does the narrator discover when he checks up on the fishing people after Colonel Joll's departure? How does he rationalize his intended course of action with respect to them?

5. General question: a major theme in Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians is the way an authoritarian regime exploits its subjects' fear (or passion, or need to "belong," etc.) to maintain order. What other works of art can you think of that explore the same theme, and what conclusions do they reach about this phenomenon?

Edition: Abrams, M.H. et al. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 2A. Seventh edition. New York: Norton, 2000.