On Literary Criticism and Self-Inflicted Questions

“Three Ways of Going Wrong: Kipling, Conrad, Coetzee” by Douglass Kerr comes to some interesting conclusions and constructs connections which I would not have noticed had they not been pointed out to me. The connection between Kurtz and the Magistrate, for example, would have gone completely unnoticed were I not to have read this article. Also, his discussion of the outlaw and the lawman was particularly interesting.

However, I was less intrigued by the article than by the questions that suddenly and inexplicably jumped into my mind while reading the criticism. For some reason, I began musing upon the ideas of how the empire -- and indeed civilization and society itself -- is portrayed within the two novels: “Heart of Darkness” and “Waiting for the Barbarians.” In what ways is the empire viewed in each of the novels? (Well, one’s a novella.) It seems to me that in “Heart of Darkness” society and civilization are viewed as being beneficial to Europeans. For when Kurtz wanders too far from the empire’s tight grip, he looses himself in the savagery and darkness that surrounds him. His escape from society leads to his downfall. However, in “Waiting for the Barbarians,” Coetzee remarks upon the corrupting and poisoning influences of empirical life. The empire is seen as something evil, something unfeeling, something ignorant of the peaceful lives the barbarians lead outside the grasp of “civilization.” In fact, in Coetzee’s work, are not the citizens of the empire more barbaric than those who live far from their walls and regulations? For two literary works that are so similar in subject matter, it came as quite a surprise to think upon how the two differ.

And now I begin to wonder: “Why?” How can two books with similar themes, characters, and commentary have conflicting ideas on the benefits of empire? I have yet to come up with a satisfactory answer.

Overall, though, I thought the criticism was well worth reading. (This, despite the fact that I am now agonizing over my own questions.)

I hope you have a lovely winter break.