“My torturers were not interested in degrees of pain. They were interested only in demonstrating to me what it meant to live in a body, as a body, a body which can entertain notions of justice only as long as it is whole and well, which very soon forgets them when its head is gripped and a pipe is pushed down its gullet and pints of salt water are poured into it till it coughs and retches and flails and voids itself. They did not come to force the story out of me of what I had said to the barbarians and what the barbarians had said to me. So I had no chance to throw the high-sounding words I had ready in their faces. They came to my cell to show me the meaning of humanity, and in the space of an hour they showed me a great deal.”
Quote by J.M. Coetzee
Work
Waiting for the Barbarians
The story follows a lone official in a remote frontier province who must confront the moral complexities of his role in a corrupt empire. The narrative delves into the psychological and ethical challenges faced by the protagonist as he struggles with the oppressive nature of his society. more
Author
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