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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Babel, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonization and Racism
Language, Translation, and Power
Race, Gender, and Intersectionality
Violence and Nonviolence
Complicity
Summary
Analysis
In December, Griffin resurfaces, and Robin receives notes asking to meet at the Twisted Root every few days. At one of those meetings, Griffin explains the Hermes Society’s grand approach. He says that Britain is currently importing many more goods from China than China is importing from Britain. That means that silver is flowing into China but isn’t flowing back to England. Eventually, Griffin says, the distribution of wealth between countries will shift, and England’s empire will collapse. The Hermes Society aims to make that process move more quickly. England will reach a breaking point, which will allow the future to become more fluid. At that point, the Hermes Society hopes to be able to shape the world to make it more just.
Griffin explains the trade deficit between England and China and explains how, if that deficit continues, China will eventually become wealthier than England, which will put the continued existence of the British Empire in question. Griffin also makes it clear that that is the fundamental aim of the Hermes Society. More than anything, the group aims to dismantle the British Empire in hopes that if that Empire is destroyed, then that will lead to more equity and justice in the world.
Themes
Robin’s assignments for the Hermes Society increase dramatically around that time. Robin is struck, and somewhat disappointed, by how routine the robberies become. He plays his small role, and the Hermes Society only steals as much silver as they can without attracting attention. Robin and Griffin also continue meeting. During those meetings, Griffin sometimes doesn’t mention the Hermes Society at all. Instead, he asks Robin about Oxford, and Robin begins to think that Griffin may simply miss being a student. Griffin also gives Robin a Christmas gift. It’s the bound novel of Charles Dickens’s latest serialized story, Oliver Twist. Robin wishes he could invite Griffin back to campus to see his friends, but he knows that his life at Oxford and his life with Griffin are necessarily separate.
The novel has previously established how Robin’s life at Oxford has led him to make friends who feel like family. In theory, Griffin had a similar experience at Oxford but gave it all up to devote himself to the Hermes Society. That suggests that Griffin was confronted with the same dilemma that Robin now faces. Namely, Robin enjoys his life at Oxford but recognizes how that life is predicated on exploitation and injustice. Furthermore, his work at Babel directly supports that injustice. Griffin still seems to miss the good things about life at Oxford, but, at the same time, it doesn’t seem that he regrets his decision to devote himself to the Hermes Society.
Themes
On the first day of the term in January, four policemen surround Babel. A man had been caught trying to steal from Babel. The wards—an automated security system that wards off people whose blood isn’t cataloged in Babel—kicked in and shot the man. Robin sees the man as he’s carted off. He doesn’t look like anyone from the Hermes Society. The next time Robin sees Griffin, Griffin says they have a routine pickup planned. Robin is hesitant to take part because of what he’s just seen of the wards. Griffin gives Robin the silver bar with wúxíng and “invisible” inscribed on it and tells Robin to use it if he gets in trouble.
Previously, Robin lamented that his role in the Hermes Society robberies was becoming so routine that it was almost boring. When the man is shot, though, it underlines the risk that Robin and other members of the Hermes Society take each time they steal from Babel. That risk shows the cost of choosing to work for the Hermes Society. To fully commit to that work, Robin would have to not only give up a life of relative comfort and privilege, but he would also need to embrace a life of risk and danger.
Themes
One week later, Robin gets a note from Griffin saying the pickup is planned for 11 that night. Robin is still afraid to take part, but he goes to Babel at the designated time. When he arrives and opens the door, two operatives from the Hermes Society slip in with him. Robin waits in the foyer as he usually does. When it comes time to go, Robin opens the door to leave and hears a loud wailing sound. It seems like an alarm system. The two Hermes Society operatives run away, but Robin doesn’t move fast enough. The wards begin firing and clip Robin in the arm with a bullet.
Robin’s worries about the risks involved in stealing from Babel prove to be prophetic in this passage. The fact that Robin is shot also provides insight into the power dynamic between Griffin and Robin. Unlike Lovell, Griffin isn’t abusive. But he still requires Robin’s compliance and overrides Robin’s concerns—and Robin ends up getting hurt. This, however, speaks to Robin’s passivity and unwillingness to stand up for himself.
Themes
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Robin runs, trying to dodge bullets as they come. He makes his way down a back street, doubled over in pain. He grips the silver bar and says the word, “Wúxíng,” but nothing happens. Someone shouts at him to stop and approaches him. It’s Professor Playfair. He tells Robin that something just happened at Babel. Perhaps it was an attempted robbery, or perhaps the wards malfunctioned, he says. He asks Robin if he’s seen anything suspicious, and Robin says no. After Playfair leaves, Robin can barely make his way home. When he’s back, he looks at his arm. Luckily, the bullet only grazed him, but it still left a sizeable gash. He drinks alcohol to help dull the pain while he stitches the wound himself. Griffin seems to have gone underground, and Robin has no one to talk to or turn to for help.
Robin has a close call with Professor Playfair but narrowly avoids getting caught, which again underlines the significant risk that Robin assumes in supporting the Hermes Society. The fact that Griffin goes underground once things go belly-up also highlights the loneliness and isolation inherent to the Hermes Society’s work. Whenever Robin has trouble at Oxford, he can turn to his friends to help get through it. The same is not the case for Robin’s work with the Hermes Society. When something goes wrong with the Hermes Society, he has to figure out everything alone, including processing his emotions and also stitching up his own bullet wound.
Themes
