My Initial Reactions to Waiting for the Barbarians

So far, I have really enjoyed

Congo, Casement, and the Congo Atrocities - Alan Simmons

- Simmons discusses 2 men who wrote about the Congo: Conrad and Casement
- The two men knew and interacted with each other
- They were both "profoundly affected by their Congo experiences" and "found an outlet in their writing"
- They both shared a detestation for the atrocities they saw and supported reform
- However, their accounts of the mutilation differ significantly
- Casement began a crusade to find accurate eye-witness accounts to add to the reform movement. Therefore, his accounts offer graphic descriptions of specific atrocities to be presented to Parliament as an appeal for reform support.
- While Conrad wrote a fictional account intended for the public. therefore, Conrad uses much more hinting and vague suggestions (cannibalism example) rather than explicit facts. It is a "mixture of denial and evasion" perhaps, as Simmons suggests out of a threat to the European sense of self as "civilized."
- Simmmons then discusses the dilemma of expressing atrocities in general
- Conrad refers to the "unspeakable truth," but how exactly does one express things that are "unspeakable?"
- Cold hard facts, according to Simmons, are "doomed to be disbelieved because society has no context for it"
- "Heart of darkness" thus provides this context* and makes the discussion of uncomfortable facts more possible.
- Conrad expresses the unspeakable truth without over-exaggerating which would take away its credibility
- The facts are essentially unnecessary for Conrad's novella because "Officially, of course, it was denied. But man to man, everyone knew." He did not need to qualify the feasibility of his story. No one doubted it.

Poor Dilsey : (

Dilsey is the thread of the Compson household. She is with the family for as long as we can see and is, perhaps, the only character able to function effectively in time. She essentially raises all of the Compson children as well as her own, while taking care of the baby of the family, Mrs. Compson. Once Caddy, Father, and Quentin are gone, Dilsey seems to be the only adult in the household. Benjy needs 24-hour attention to function; Mother depends on Dilsey and Jason for all of her needs; Quentin cannot grasp the concepts of responsibility and gratitude (understandably);and, Jason cannot grow out of his own immaturity and stubbornness.

With a house full of dependent "Children," Dilsey is forced to take on all of the household responsibilities. In section one, we get hints that Dilsey has a lot of help with this burden. Her husband and sons work hard to take care of some chores. However, in section four, it is clear that Dilsey is practically on her own. Luster does not have the same sense of willingness to help that we saw in Versh and T.P. Thus, Luster becomes just another child Dilsey has to babysit around the clock.

With all that Dilsey does for the Compsons, one would expect them to express immense gratitude towards her. However, not once do we hear someone thank or appreciate her hard work. Mother complains that she is taking too long. Jason complains that she is not perfectly obedient and complacent to his authority and Quentin flat out ignores her efforts to protect her from Jason. Why does no one express appreciation for arguably the most important member of the Compson family? Why doesn't, at the very least, Luster appreciate her? Is there a complete inability to express gratitude or do the Compsons show grattitude for other characters besides Dilsey?