Imperialism
One of the most prominent themes in Waiting for the Barbarians is imperialism. In the novel we see various dimensions of imperialist mentality and actions unveiled. The paranoia of the Empire reflects a more general existential condition of one group intending to impose its culture and political mandate on others. The creation of an enemy, or "other"—the nomad "barbarian"—reflects broader perceptions of a threat that serve to justify imperialist violence. The Empire's anxious need to constantly glorify itself sheds light on more universal narratives of imperialist magnificence and righteousness that again serve as justification of a mandate of power.
Colonialism
Distinct from imperialism, the theme of colonialism as a physical, territorial project with far-reaching implications plays out in Waiting for the Barbarians. The colonial process, as illustrated in the novel, is more than just a cultural or ideological 'imperialist' project; it is a violent physical one that plays out on the earth and on the bodies of the colonized. As it is represented in Waiting for the Barbarians, the experience of colonization impacts the many lives. We see the damage done to the tribal nomads, both in terms of the torture, trauma and violence inflicted on them as well as on the intrusion upon their migrant lifestyle. We also see the impact of colonialism on the earth, as the riverbanks burn, desertification sets in, the fisher people are uprooted and the fields are flooded. Colonialism, as it is shown in Waiting for the Barbarians, entails profound violence and disruption.
Male sexuality
One of the central themes in Waiting for the Barbarians is male sexuality. Along with being a story of colonial power and imperialism, the novel is an extended examination of the magistrate's sexuality and of the nature of male sexuality in general. In the case of the magistrate, sexuality is a socialized condition, closely linked to self-perception. In the times when he has power, his sexuality thrives. As his power wanes, so too does his libido. As existential questions begin to haunt him, his desire is similarly troubled. When he goes out on a long trek, stepping out of his society, he is the least inhibited. The barbarian girl's sexuality remains a mystery for the most part. It is the (distinctly male) sexuality of the magistrate that the novel most closely examines.
Power
Waiting for the Barbarians presents a complex and intimate analysis of power, both in terms of what it consists of and the nature of its effects. Power is clearly shown to be relational, the result of close encounters between individual bodies. The story conveys the physical implications of power, how it derives from the threat and fear of physical pain. The Empire's ultimate expression of power is through the infliction of pain on individual bodies. Joll and Mandel perform torture in public spaces, not only to display their power over their enemy, but to instill fear of suffering on all around them. In this way, they extend their power. A complex power dynamic plays out between the magistrate and the girl. Her disability makes her dependent on him for help and in this way immediately puts him in a position of power. While he doesn't physically harm her, he still takes advantage of his power, by stripping her and putting her through a ritual of strange intimacy. That she doesn't resist him, doesn't mean that his role in relation to her isn't one of power. Another dimension of power plays out in the Empire's war against the barbarians. The Empire does not have power over the nomads as a group, only individual bodies that it captures and tortures. Power is shown in this way not to have any resonant force. Instead it relies on the close physical force of one body over another.
Interrogation
The elusive nature of truth and the difficulties of pinning it down is an important topic in Waiting for the Barbarians. Interrogation is central to to the novel and interrogations take different forms. Most notably we see two competing forms of interrogation: Joll's violent method, in which the interrogative quest for truth is a pretext for cruelty; and the magistrate's soft method, in which his interrogation is persistent and his quest for truth seems sincere.
Rape
The Latin origin of the word rape is to seize, to steal. The concept seems simple, relating to the violation of theft, the affront and sense of loss that happens when a person or group seizes something from another—the taking of property. This original sense of rape frames women's sexual violation as a matter of property. But if in its origin, the concept of rape derives from a concept of theft, it needs to be asked, what has been stolen from the woman? This question is important, and it's one that the magistrate circles around in Waiting for the Barbarians. His fixation on the nomad girl is in many ways a fixation with her defilement rather than her violation. The fact that she has been maimed and defaced and that her beauty is ruined obsesses the magistrate more than her violation—the fact that she has been personally hurt and traumatized. He is obsessed with trying to imagine what she was like before, and tries to picture her in a dignified state. In this way, he conceives of rape as a form of theft rather than as the physical trauma of violence. The book presents a subtle but thorough meditation on rape, culminating in the magistrate's thought that the nomad girl's people will never take her back in as a whole woman. Above and beyond her scars, he muses, her defilement will always be known to them. She will always have had something stolen from her. Of course it is this view of rape as theft, and thus of women as property, that contributes to the prevalence of rape. By seeing the girl as lacking because of her "defilement," the magistrate himself takes or steals the girl's dignity.
Fear of the other
The novel is a close examination of the fear of the other, the foreigner, the outsider. More specifically it is a parable about the creation of an enemy that comes from that fear. The barbarian is a derogatory term that identifies a group as outsiders and vilifies them. The term is deployed effectively by the Empire to designate the nomads as different—lower, savage—and thus to define them as the enemy and justify their persecution. The hatred that grows from fear justifies the violence that perpetuates the fear—specifically of the other.
