Waiting for the Barbarians: JM Coetzee

That JM Coetzee loves to inflict ignominies and humbling experiences on his characters is well recorded and also quite evident from his books. In this book, a "storied" novel if one may call it for its political theme, he has the chief character, The Magistrate, debase himself and be subjected to some serious humiliation.
The political messages from the story, the broad hints at insensitive ruling powers -- I am sure these have been written about many times. That stuff is powerful enough. But had it been as straightforward as that it would have been an ordinary tale of a satire. But Coetzee does not make it that simple, that elementary, that easy. The heroism of protest comes through a certain conviction but it does not come easy. It is a human heroism, not super-human. It is weak and subject to pain and desire, but yet, it is upstanding in spirit. It can be threatened and made to cower, but it arises again. Therein lies Coetzee's craft, I think.