Many of us have heard of the “dysfunctional relationship” characterized by the twists and turns of emotions and outrageous behavior of two self-destructive individuals. However, we never imagine ourselves in that situation, playing the stereotypical role of the crazy woman or man, both blinded by love or another passionate emotion. However, in Waiting for the Barbarians, JM Coetzee creates a stunning and shocking relationship between the old pedophile magistrate and the damaged barbarian girl. The transformative relationship between the two individuals is based on torture, guilt, atonement and power. Didactically, through their relationship, Coetzee intends the reader to understand the effect of moral idleness and also see himself reflected in the idea of ​​the true barbarian. Quickly in the novel, torture can be identified as an important theme that shapes the transformative relationship. between the magistrate and the barbarian girl. The magistrate sees himself as “a responsible official in the service of the Empire” carrying out his routine duties in a remote and quiet town, “waiting to retire” (8). His remarkably peaceful and contented lifestyle is interrupted following the arrival of Colonel Joll and soon after the senseless imprisonment and torture begins. Initially, by refraining from investigation and torture, the magistrate perceives himself as the opposite of the evidently evil man with “glass disks suspended before his eyes” (1). Without directly causing the bruises and resulting scars, the magistrate still participates in the torture due to his association with the Empire. He is aware and even states that many of the prisoners, like the fisherman, are innocent... middle of paper... the institution's desire to preserve its ideals of what is good and evil by creating a non-existent enemy and war . If Colonel Joll's soldiers "never managed to capture them [the barbarians]", were they there to begin with? Creating problems without a valid basis is just as harmful as waiting for an evil action to occur and waiting for others to solve the problem. Coetzee uses the strange relationship between the magistrate and the barbarian girl as penance to intellectually show the effects of guilt due to moral idleness. If empires, governments and administrations commit wrongful acts, as citizens and, above all, as human beings, you should react and express your opinions, instead of cowering in fear or helping when the damage has already been done. The novel leads us to wonder whether we will be another facilitator of the bystander effect.