"All this erotic behavior of mine is indirect: I prowl about her, touching her face, caressing her body, without entering her or finding the urge to do so. ... But with this woman it is as if there is no interior, only a surface across which I hunt back and forth seeking entry. Is this how her torturers felt hunting their secret, whatever they thought it was?" - pg.43.
One of the central figures in J. M. Coetzee's "Waiting for the Barbarians" is the barbarian girl. The Magistrate finds the girl maimed and nearly blind after being interrogated and tortured by the ruthless Colonel Joll, and takes her in. The Magistrate's relationship with the girl revolves around his search for the girl's significance; he questions her about her torture, he attempts to understand her through her physical surface, and tries to use her as the key to unlocking his own meaning.
The magistrate arrives at his court: photograph of...
John Maxwell Coetzee
Former Magistrates Court/Former Police Station, Ex...Ultimately, the Magistrate's treatment of the barbarian girl mirrors her treatment by Colonel Joll; they both use her as a tool in their respective searches for knowledge.
The parallels between Joll and the Magistrate's behavior towards the barbarian girl can be seen in the selected passage. The Magistrate is going over his conduct towards the girl in his head, and expressing some puzzlement as to the motivation behind his actions as well as over their lack of fruition. He puts effort into making romantic gestures towards her, but does not sleep with her, nor does he really want to. He seems to want something from her, but is unsure about what that is or how to go about getting it. This makes the woman seem mysteriously full of meaning and yet impenetrable to him, in more ways than one.
His last thought is to compare his search...