Knowledge And Power In Coetzee's Waiting For The Barbarians

Language can be a powerful tool which can build individuals up but it can also tear them down. When reading Literature through a post-colonial lens it can give us the needed tools to provide or grasp the information in order to reveal the bigger picture in the story. “Post-colonialism examines the manner in which emerging societies grapple with the challenges of self- determination.” (Aladren, 2013) In one way we can see that approach of colonist being conveyed through the native tongue which tends to be taught to its subjects. Such examples can be seen in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (Act1 & 2) and the The Epic of Gilgamesh which illustrates how a “savage” can be domesticated simply by learning the imperialist language. As the subjects Caliban and Enkidu encounter these dominating issues due to the situation they face once they are introduce to oppressors culture.

The works I have studied and will be exploring in this essay are Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ and Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. In ‘Frankenstein’ the abuse of power is most clearly exhibited by the protagonist of the story Frankenstein himself, his abuse of power results in his isolation and could serve as a warning to people, telling them not to play with forces that they can not control. In ‘Heart of Darkness’, Conrad abuses his power as the author to distance himself from the novella and in a sense absolve himself from any racist criticism the book may induce. The abuse of power is also a key theme in the novella itself. Firstly there is a sense of hypocrisy in

ere is one major thing that people desire most. Knowledge. The similarities between John from “By the waters of Babylon” and Guy Montag from “F451” are impressive, and they are worthy of thorough assessment. In this paper I will compare John and Montag’s motivation, struggle, and outcome for their quest for knowledge. Careful review of their motivation, struggle, and outcome are worthy of thorough assessment.

Knowledge isn't power. This relates in Flowers for Algernon because he who believed if he was “normal” or smart like everyone else he would have more friends or live a better life. This wasn't true at all. He ended up losing friends and being an outcast. In Adam and Eve they also believed knowledge was power. They believed that if they bit from the tree of knowledge they would gain knowledge and be like god. Another theme is think about it before you risk it all. Charlie risked his happiness to be “normal” or be “just like everyone else” ,Adam and Eve risked their freedom in hopes to find knowledge or

In both works it is revealed that knowledge is the greatest power and sets one free.

Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.

In Kirn’s anecdote we can see this definition brought to life. The ambition for ‘power’ that Kirn seeks in his time at Princeton, the meritocratic reward and social class elevation, is ultimately a ‘power’ he cannot entirely acheive, as demonstrated by his wealthier peer and other confrontations with his elite classmates. Terdiman notes that the university’s place should be to “find the holes and exploit them when possible,” the holes being gateways to examine the domination of classes, so to speak (Terdiman, 229). Yet, one can see from Kirn’s experience, that his classes were “outclassed by the power of power,” in the very same critical nature that Terdiman describes (Terdiman, 229). Indeed, it is through the fascinating lens of ‘New Historicist’ theory that one is able to conceptualize how literature could mirror these societal constructs and, further, reinforce them. I, personally, am further intrigued by Kirn’s focus on his “subjective” experience at the end. He strives to make knowledge his own by reading classic works of literature and listening to these diverse voices. One could argue that some of these timeless voices also reinforce the very systems of power that locked people like Kirn out of the social rings of Princeton’s elitists, which leads me into my

In the book, “All The King’s Men” by Robert Penn Warren, the character of Jack Burden gradually evolves into a person with a deeper comprehension of the world around him. Jack grapples with many new concepts, including the concept of whether or not knowledge is power. Jack’s profession involves digging into the past to discover information about others, which often, he will later use to blackmail them. So naturally Jack believes knowledge holds great power. However, as the book carries on, Jack struggles with the idea that his knowledge may have a much deeper effect on society than the original purpose of the information. Throughout this novel Jack demonstrates that knowledge is power, but he eventually realizes

The expression "knowledge is power" is valid, regardless of whether the power which knowledge gives be utilized for good or evil. By his medicinal knowledge, the doctor can cure infections and spare his patient's life. However, the blackmailer, by his knowledge of some guilty secret, can bleed his victims white under the intimidation of exposure. In general, the man who knows has a far more significant advantage over the man who

I believe knowledge is power because it helps we as a person, be reminded of past events so that when events like what happened before happens again we do not repeat it. When the history is recorded in the knowledge of past times, math is also and so is science all recorded in knowledge that remind us of events that happened at one time. When knowledge is here in this world to correct mistakes and remind us of how to do something like how to properly conduct wars and the armies successful and failing tactics. I doubt those who think that knowledge is nowhere near considerably close to power is completely mistaken for the fact that without knowledge we would be no where in close to the society we currently have. Also how would one determine

Greenblatt’s interrogation of “subversiveness” and its symbiotic relationship to “power” becomes complicated when one considers the origin of the words themselves. Both words develop from Middle French, yet “power” works its way into our lexicon more than 80 years before “subvert.” If Greenblatt’s claim that “ [power] not only produces its own subversion but is actively built upon it” (48), then wouldn’t the words themselves show that through their historical use? Though the sound patterns of a word might be arbitrary, their context and historical use are not. By performing a close reading on the word “subvert,” and by proxy all of its constituents as well as its symbiotic host “power,” we can see some amount of flawed logic at work in his essay, even if it is just in a word choice.

In J.M. Coetzee’s novel Waiting for the Barbarians, the Magistrate comes to discover the humanity of the barbarian through his interactions with the blind girl, which eventually leads him to learn about the nature of his own humanity. Although the Magistrate is more lenient on the Barbarians than Colonel Joll, he still unknowingly objectifies them, while placing himself above them. It is only when he is imprisoned that he comes to realize the fragility of his own humanity. Ultimately Coetzee uses the magistrate’s journey from empirical leader to broken and fearful prisoner to express that peace and stability between people can only be obtained when all humanity is valued.

In this essay, I will be comparing the importance of knowledge in terms of power in The Tempest and Paradise Lost. Adam and Eve are the main characters I will focus on in Paradise Lost, and the main character in The Tempest will be Prospero. During the English Renaissance, knowledge was becoming easier to obtain, and the literature became concerned with telling people about the possible unforeseen dangers of certain types of knowledge. In The Tempest and Paradise Lost, knowledge becomes more important than anything else to the main characters of each story. Also, these two literary works help reinforce the idea that the pursuit of knowledge can have devastating effects. Consequently, both stories end with Adam and Eve of Paradise Lost and Prospero of The Tempest being left to deal with the consequences of their actions.

In Waiting for the Barbarians, J.M. Coetzee introduces the controversial idea of civilized and barbaric through a nameless empire. The novel features the first person narration of an unnamed magistrate who becomes conflicted upon his duties after meeting Colonel Joll. As the antagonist of the novel, Colonel Joll coincides with the depraved actions of the Empire, one of the most prominent being imperialism. Later in the novel, the Magistrate also encounters an unnamed barbarian girl, who he brings into his home and claims responsibility for. With the intention of learning about her past and about the pain inflicted by his Empire, he aims to to extract the “truth” through means of

Waiting For The Barbarians” by J.M Coetzee is a novel that truly helps the world understand how colonization might just be the worst thing human has done to destroy other civilizations culture and respect. “The Empire “ is a nation that is set up to have a centralized government. The capital is where all the power is contain and then there are other subunits of smaller governments such as the magistrate who rules the frontier of the whole country. The magistrate lives and guard a town on the frontier and from his years there everything been peaceful with the barbarians. However, once the third Berru which is a powerful branch of government arrive to town everything changes. Violence, torture, and chao overwhelmingly flood the town and the rest of the capital. Resulting in major realization of how colonization is a pattern of destruction that can be seen in this novel and in real life. A close resemblances of The Empire is The Song Dynasty which begins from 960 to 1279 and share a common barbarian enemies known as the mongols who are from Mongolia which is north of China. The Song Dynastie follows many of The Empires principles that eventually causes internal demolition.