Connections Between Heart of Darkness and Waiting for the Barbarians

Despite being written over 80 years apart, Heart of Darkness and Waiting for the Barbarians actually have a great deal in common in terms of content. Although Waiting for the Barbarians functions more as a allegory, while Heart of Darkness can be interpreted literally, both stories have important points to make about the nature of discrimination and empire. Even more important than their common criticism of imperialism are the similarities between the narrators of the two stories: Marlow in Heart of Darkness and the Magistrate in Waiting for the Barbarians.
Although, at first glance, it appears that Marlow and the Magistrate are polar opposites, both protagonists only because of different sets of morals from the two different literary periods in which the books were written, in fact the two characters go on very similar journeys. Both Marlow and the Magistrate begin as loyal (more or less) servants of the empire in which they live (Marlow works for the Belgian Company, while the Magistrate lives in the nameless entity known only as The Empire). However, following their experiences with the natives in the wild, both begin to look at their fellow "civilized" men with increasing disdain. The way in which the two characters do this differs somewhat. The Magistrate begins to sympathize with the barbarians after his encounter with the blind girl, while Marlow simply becomes offended by the rampant corruption while in the wilderness, making little or no mention of sympathy towards the natives.
Perhaps because of this, Douglas Kerr, author of "Three Ways of Going Wrong," compares in his article the Magistrate to Kurtz rather than Marlow. Kerr's logic is that the shift in perspective from colonial to post-colonial literature results in the different roles of the two characters (from antagonist in HOD to protagonist in WFB). While there is some accuracy in this comparison, there are enough differences to give me pause. Kurtz begins his voyage to Africa with high ideals and increasing disdain for everything "civilized." However, as Kerr points out, he incurs the wrath of his fellow Europeans by passing "beyond the bounds of what is considered acceptable and civilized." In this process, Kurtz becomes swallowed by the "heart of darkness" losing all traces of civilization. There is no indication that the Magistrate has any similar loss. Indeed, one of the main conflicts in Waiting for the Barbarians features the Magistrate struggling to look beyond the prejudices of the Empire to analyze the barbarians. Also, Kurtz reacts to his experiences with the natives more negatively than the Magistrate. There is evidence that Kurtz scribbled on a piece of paper, "exterminate all the brutes." While the Magistrate often finds himself torn in his feelings towards the barbarian girl, there is no evidence that he ever thinks anything so hateful. (462)