Waiting for the Barbarians and Heart of Darkness

Despite the numerous connections between the novels Waiting for the Barbarians and Heart of Darkness, a message both authors seem to highlight lies in the significance of “the other”. In both novels, the predominating forces, The Empire and the Company, interact with the often demoralized other, or in the barbarians in Waiting for the Barbarians and the Africans in Heart of Darkness. Yet despite the often portrayal of “the other” as savage-like, both novels recognize the importance of the “the other” on society as a whole as well as the individual.
Conrad and Coetzee both demonstrate the invaluable role the other provides for the Company and Empire. In the Heart of Darkness, the other or Africans provide services, like labor, necessary for the development of the Company, an organization operating on profit. Unified in their pursuit of riches, the Company belief of the other’s inferiority allows them to persecute and condemn the kind sin guilt. Likewise in Waiting for the Barbarians, Coronel Joll uses the idea of the barbarians as a weapon to unify the Empire. With the formation of an opposing force, the Empire is given an identity contra to the barbarians thereby unifying them. In both novels, the other serves as force that unifies the opposition.
Despite the other’s ability to help unify its opposition, both authors also develop the effects of the other on the individual level as well through the characters of Krutz and the Magistrate. In his article “Going Wrong in Kipling, Conrad, and Coetzee,” Douglas Kerr refers to the Magistrate as a “culture traitor” for his “consorting with the enemy.” In Waiting for the Barbarians, the Magistrate is the only character to interact with the barbarians in a less than brutal nature. Similar to the Magistrate, Krutz in Heart of Darkness, also becomes a culture traitor from his fellow Europeans as even Marlow acknowledges Krutz’s highly bizarre fascination and interactions with the natives. Both the Magistrate and Krutz are the only characters to intermix with the other, allowing them to be the only characters to achieve growth or understanding from their experiences. In Waiting for the Barbarians, the Magistrate finally demonstrates his personal growth when he tells the Coronel to stop beating the barbarians. Similarly, Krutz with his last breath, demonstrates his understanding of the Empire inhuman acts towards the Africans with his final words, “The horror! The horror!.”
Both Heart of Darkness and Waiting for the Barbarians depict the necessity of the other. With the other, an organization, like the Empire, can form an identity, or the individual, like the both Krutz and the Magistrate, can gain some sort of personal growth by understanding their opposition. But the other, whether it be on the macro or micro level, help one achieve understanding and an identity. (465)