11.7

One of the many racist undertones that I gathered from "Waiting" was the casual mention of many rampant sexual acts throughout the book. How the magistrate visited the same young lady at the inn (her name escapes me and I do not have my copy handy), forming almost a suedo-relationship with her, only to actually bear witness (sort of) to her conducting business with another man. The magistrate's odd sexual acts with the barbarian girl stuck out at me as well. As it was only until far later in the book did he actually "enter her." Instead choosing to rub oils on her and sleep (literally) with her while visiting the girl at the inn on the side. Even towards the end of the book, the magistrate describes his lack of self control, leading him to seek out the not-quite-so-satisfying cook to fulfill his sexual desires. This all serves to paint the picture that people out on the frontier (wherever that may be) have little to know control over their sexual desires, and seemingly go at it like wild dogs, not even bothering to cover it up, as the magistrate mentions several girls who were not kept secret. He even goes so far as to refer to the barbarian girl as the magistrate's slut (from the other men's perspective, that is). Not once is there mention of any form of birth control or protection, which means decease and pregnancy would run rampant. Is this the right message to be sending about the frontier (wherever it may be)? Not from the perspective of a racist reader, I imagine they would take much offense at the inclination that these people have no self control. Which, as the book goes, happens to be true in more ways than one, but that's a different argument.