Waiting for the Barbarians

What is the main conflict in Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee?

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One of the novel's main conflicts is centered upon the magistrate's return from the village, and his subsequent imprisonment for his "alleged" conspiracy with the barbarians. As a result, the magistrate becomes a victim of the system he once represented. He is kept in prison without trial, tortured, and eventually released. After a mock-up execution he is set free, but not allowed to work he leads the life of a vagrant and a beggar.

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Waiting for the Barbarians