Waiting for the Barbarians

After reading the first seventy four pages of Waiting for the Barbarians, I am still waiting for the answers to the many questions I have concerning the events of the novel. This extremely interesting and intriguing novel has me wondering constantly about the barbarian girl, the Magistrate's mysterious dream, and especially the relationship between these two people. First, I will talk about the curious relationship the Magistrate and the girl seem to have. What is it that drove the Magistrate to take in the girl, bathe and sleep beside her every night, but never to indulge in a physical relationship that characterized many of the Magistrate's relationships, including the one with "The Star" at the inn. And then, when he has only a few days left with the girl before she will return to her home, he does finally "enter" her, but he adds that he does not care if he does so again, and notices that he seems to lose touch with the girl halfway through the act. What was it about the girl whom the Magistrate called ugly that captivated his mind? Second, I want to address the recurring dream the Magistrate experiences. What does the dream represent? What is its importance? Amusingly, when I read the last of the Magistrate's recountings of his dreams, I accidently combined the dream with the conversation he has with the barbarian girl in real life when he is done reflecting on his dream. For a few seconds, I believed that it was the girl in the dream giving the Magistrate the responses that were actually being given by the barbarian girl. Now, I believe that the girl in the dream might some way symbolize or represent the barbarian girl. Third, I will mention the barbarian girl and her decision to go home. Why did she choose to go home? What was she experiencing during the events described in parts two and three of the novel. While we know all about the Magistrate's thoughts and feeling about the girl, I feel that I was not given specific insights into the girl's mind. I do not know what she has been thinking. Where will she go now? What will happen to her? Will we ever find out why the Magistrate was so captivated with the "blind" barbarian girl he found begging on the street?

I am eagerly awaiting the next time I pick up Coetzee's novel and continue reading. I am hoping to find to answers to my questions as I read. I am eagerly awaiting a satisfactory conclusion to the events that have transpired in the novel thus far. (437)