English 1C: Textual Analysis with Additional Source
Torture is the intentional infliction of physical or psychological pain by someone in
authority. Torture was lawfully in most colonial rules. Democracy is not demonstrated in
colonial rule, and the society members have no say in matters of the law. In the most colonial
rule, dictatorship prevails. The individual in power and their representative proceed as they see
fit, caring less if they violate human rights. This freedom gave rise to torture. The people in
power is not accountable to anyone, and their power is unregulated. Torture has life-changing
effects on both the victim and those who witness this torture.
In the book, Waiting for the Barbarians, the setting is sadly conducive to torture. The
novel is based in an isolated colonial territory whose ruler is a totalitarian authority. The colonial
representative has unregulated power, as demonstrated by Colonel Joll (Coetzee 2). The Colonel tortures people at will and does not care about the opinion of others, including the magistrate. The magistrates express their view of torture to Colonel Joll to convince him it’s not effective, but the Colonel is a strong proponent. The magistrates ask, “Imagine: to be prepared to yield, to yield, to have nothing more to yield, to be broken, yet to be pressed to yield more!” (Coetzee 9). It shows his disapproval of this interrogation tactic which he later falls to after suspicion. This causes the magistrate to distance himself from the action of the Empire despite being a representative of the ruling administration.
The magistrate’s way of life is changed by the torture he goes through. Before torture, the
magistrate is a man of means and an able man. He lives a very tidy and organized life, but soon
after the torture, he falls into disarray. He survives only at the mercies of a few of his friends.
The magistrate says, “meanwhile I, the old clown who lost his last vestige of authority the day he spent hanging from a tree in a woman’s underclothes shouting for help. the filthy creature who for a week licked his food off the flagstones like a dog because he had lost the use of his hands, am no longer locked up” (Coetzee 165). He loses his ability to work and can only depend on others. The torture turns him away from his hobby of finding ruins in the desert and interpreting pottery. Torture ruins one’s life.
Torture gives rise to fibromyalgia. This condition is characterized by pain, sleeping
problems, fatigue, and distress. Soon after witnessing torture, the magistrate starts experiencing sleeping problems. He experiences distress in his sleep too. After he takes him in, the blind beggar girl se severally wakes him up, saying, “You were shouting in your sleep” (Coetzee 65). In another incident, when the magistrates seek the comfort of a young woman and in the morning find her sleeping on the floor, she explains, “You were tossing in your sleep, you told me to go away, so I decided I would sleep better here” (Coetzee 32). The sleeping problems start even before the magistrate himself is tortured. He describes his sleep disorder as “no longer a healing bath, a recuperation of vital forces, but an oblivion, a nightly brush with annihilation” (Coetzee 30). In a study of 102 interventions by William Weiss (22), he finds that “Forty-two intervention arms addressed a number of additional symptoms (i.e., sleep problems), but no specific symptom in any substantial numbers.” This is a long-term effect of torture that is not only exhibited by victims but also by witnesses.
Torture has permanent physical effects on its victims. A girl is tortured by Colonel Joll
and loses her eyesight (Coetzee 51). Her ability to walk is also greatly hindered by the torture
(Coetzee 39). The narrator says, “she refuses the stool, but yields up her sticks and kneels in the center of the carpet” to express her hindered ability to walk (Coetzee 39). Torture is a violation of human rights as it has effects such as maiming someone permanently. They can no longer lead normal lives. The girl had a normal life until she fell into the hands of her torturers.
Torture victims suffer from trauma. Trauma is an emotional response to terrible events
that one faces in the past. Each time she remembers her father, the girl breaks down, who was
tortured and killed next to her (Coetzee 109). The magistrate narrates, “I think of one who
despite her age was still a child; who was brought in here and hurt before her father’s eyes; who watched him being humiliated before her, and saw that he knew what she saw,” describing what transpired after the girl opened to him (Coetzee 108). Trauma is characterized by shock, fear, withdrawing from others, and feeling disconnected. The girl exhibits all these signs (Coetzee 40). Torture is a cause of trauma, and sometimes it is permanent and last in a victim’s lifetime.
Another effect of torture is a strained relationship. The victim becomes cautious and
fearful of the people they let in their circle, and it becomes hard to relate with them. It is hard for the magistrate to help the blind beggar girl. She is suspicious of him, and their relationship does not yield for a long time. It is hard for them to communicate, and it soon becomes a one-sided relationship. The magistrates say, “it is a week since words have passed between us,” describing their relationship (Coetzee 43), She resists offers of affection and does the home chores to compensate for the magistrate’s kindness. Torture victims are suspicious of anyone who tries to help and resists any affection. A strained relationship is the result.
Apart from physical bodily harm, torture gives rise to health problems for the victim. The
girl develops health problems from the torture. Her body no longer functions normally, and her
health is strained. The magistrate, who is the narrator, describes her ankles as “large, puffy,
shapeless, the skin scarred purple” (Coetzee 42). These are some of the signs and symptoms of arthritis. The girl experiences pain when it is cold. When asked if her legs her by the magistrate, she answers, Not anymore. It has healed. But perhaps when the cold comes” (Coetzee 40). This is another sign and symptom of arthritis. In their article. Williams. Amanda, and Kirstine Amris (5) say, “Challenging torture therefore entails not only reparation to the individual, robbed of human rights and often of a sense of health and humanity, but challenging the perpetrators and bringing them to justice.” Torture alters the human body’s functioning bringing about health problems.
Barbarians are considered uncultured, savage, and rowdy people. Torture stirs p the citizens to join the barbarian band because the law-abiding citizens fall into the hands of torture. They are not exempted from torture even though they have not joined the rebellions that rise against the ruling administration. The Colonel is tortured at the slightest thought that she is hiding something. Torture is administered with no evidence of any wrongdoing. In turn, after internal resistance, the girl joins the barbarian bands with the aim that they hold the victory of the torture citizens is going through. When the girl is offered the chance to back with the magistrate to the outpost instead of joining the barbarians, she replies, “No. I do not want to go back to that place.” (Coetzee 97). In an article by Houck, Shannon, and Meredith (276). they claim that “In addition to the biases people may hold toward the act of torturing another, biases related to the in-groups and out-groups involved in torture scenarios are also critical to understanding the psychological processes underlying torture justification.” Most of the time, when victims of torture are faced with the decision to return to the place the torture took place, they will not take it. They wish to not be under the same authority that brought about the torture.
Torture is not an effective interrogation method. The interviewees can say anything,
hoping to relieve their pain. As seen in the book, Waiting for the Barbarians, the torture has no
definitive way of knowing when they are told the truth and work on a hunch. The victims
sometimes suffer the harsh effects of this interrogation method for the rest of their lives.
Works Cited
Coetzee. J.M. Waiting for the Barbarians. Penguin, 2010
Houck, Shannon C., and Meredith A. Repke. “When and why we torture: A review of
psychology research.” Translational Issues in Psychological Science 3.3 (2017): 272.
Williams, Amanda C. de C., and Kirstine Amris. “Pain from torture.” Pain 133.1 (2007): 5-8
Weiss, William M., et al. “Mental health interventions and priorities for research for adult
survivors of torture and systematic violence: a review of the literature.” Torture
Journal 26.1 (2016): 27-27.
