Similarities in the two similar novels we read

After reading both J.M Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, it is easy to see similarities and to draw a connection between the two novels, particularly with the characters of Kurtz and the Magistrate. In similar and in different ways, both characters break away from the idea of a traditional citizen by each of their society’s standards. Kurtz and the Magistrate both “go wrong,” Kurtz by means of assimilating himself with the native African way of life and embracing the nature of the jungle, and the Magistrate by questioning the practices and workings of the all-powerful Empire.

The Magistrate and Kurtz are also similar and connected to one another because they can both be considered scholars and traitors to their societies. Kurtz can be considered a traitor to the European standards because he does not act in traditional ways and has “regressed” back to barbaric and native ways that the African people live by. Kurtz falls in love with the African wilderness, which the Europeans look at with disgust, and essential loses his sanity, betraying the idea that the Europeans are better than the natives and cannot succumb to their primitive ways. Kurtz can also be considered as scholar as a result of his love of nature and interest in the African ways. Similarly, the Magistrate is a scholar, although in a much more clear and defined way. The Magistrate takes a keen interest in barbarian culture and ways, as shown by his affection for and attention given to the barbarian girl, and also desires to learn of the barbarian history, also shown through the barbarian girl. In one part of the story, the Magistrate finds himself questioning why he is so interested in the barbarian girl, and wondering if it is just because of his insatiable desire of knowledge of the barbarians. And, of course, the Magistrate is a traitor to the Empire’s and specifically Colonol Joll’s standards because of his heavy interaction with the barbarians and his dangerous sympathy towards the barbarians and their culture.

Another way in which the novels themselves are similar is the idea of an enemy featured in each novel. The Africans and the barbarians in Heart of Darkness and Waiting for the Barbarians, respectively, both are a “threat” to the Europeans and the Empire. Both societies portray their enemies as subhuman and at a lower level than their esteemed cultures. Both societies perpetuate the idea of fear to keep their denizens in check and to discourage questions regarding anything in their life. Overall, Waiting for the Barbarians and Heart of Darkness are curiously similar to each other.