In Cavafy's 'Waiting for the Barbarians', the poem ends by saying the barbarians 'were a kind of solution'. What is the effect of this ending?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. It is ironic: the city used an expected enemy to avoid facing its own problems
- Step 1: The citizens spend the poem preparing for an invasion that never comes. Step 2. When the barbarians do not arrive, the people realise they had been a convenient explanation for the city's troubles, which is a bitter irony. Answer: It is ironic: the city used an expected enemy to avoid facing its own problems. Why not the others: The poem does not hope for rulers, does not record a real capture, and the final line gives the poem its meaning.
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