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Interlude 1
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
The morning after Robin freed Victoire and Ramy from the silver web, Robin wakes up and meets Ramy outside the house. They walk together to class at Babel in silence. Later that day, all of the fourth-year students get messages saying that the annual fourth-year trip—usually reserved for after exams—will begin in two days. They’re headed to Canton for two weeks, Macau for one week, and Mauritius for ten days. The notes explain they’ve moved up the trip because there are pressing trade negotiations currently occurring in China, and the British trade companies involved want to make use of Babel interpreters. Letty is excited about the trip, but Robin, Ramy, and Victoire think the sudden announcement of the trip must be related in some way to last night’s events.
The fact that Robin, Victoire, Ramy, and Letty are headed to Canton to help trade companies in negotiations with the Chinese government again shines a spotlight on the nature of the work done at Babel and how that work contributes to British imperialism. In this case, Griffin has previously said that England has a substantial trade deficit with China. If Robin and his cohort are going to China to negotiate trade deals, then there seems to be a good chance that the English company’s trade negotiations will attempt to address that deficit in some way—almost certainly in a way that benefits England, not both trading partners.
Themes
Two days later, Robin and his cohort go with Professor Lovell to London to board the ship that will take them to Canton. The trip will take six weeks. When they’re on board, Ramy and Victoire are terrified that they’ll be caught for their crimes at any moment. Robin wants to discuss the Hermes Society and everything that has happened with Ramy and Victoire, but the three are never alone. Letty senses something is wrong but doesn’t know what.
This passage delves into the separation between Robin, Ramy, and Victoire on the one hand and Letty on the other. Since Letty hasn’t been involved in the Hermes Society, Robin, Victoire, and Ramy don’t want to risk telling her about something they’ve sworn to keep a secret. It’s worth noting, too, that Robin, Ramy, and Victoire have ended up working for the Hermes Society while Letty (the only White person in their cohort) hasn’t.
Themes
At one point, Robin finds himself alone with Professor Lovell. Lovell tells Robin he believes in fresh starts. He apologizes for being too distant as a guardian and for not being sensitive to the difficulties Robin inevitably faced growing up in a foreign country. He says that he hopes he and Robin can have a clean slate, forget about the Hermes Society, and focus on Babel and the future. Robin is immensely relieved, but he also realizes that Lovell hasn’t apologized for not recognizing Robin as a son or for letting Robin’s mother die.
Professor Lovell’s halfhearted apology in this passage calls to mind his lack of an apology after he beat Robin with a fireplace poker. While this apology and the previous lack of apology may appear to be opposite gestures, in both instances, the gestures serve Lovell’s larger aim of restoring the status quo. In this case, Lovell apologizes to Robin to try and ensure that Robin will cut ties with the Hermes Society and continue to work for Babel, showing again how much Lovell and Babel need Robin.
Themes
A week into the journey, Robin, Ramy, and Victoire finally find themselves alone. They initially talk over one another because they’re so eager to talk about everything that has happened. They talk about Anthony and Griffin. Ramy and Victoire say that Anthony faked his disappearance and then recruited them a few months ago. Robin explains that Professor Lovell said that Griffin killed Evie Brooke. Ramy asks Robin if he believes Professor Lovell, and Robin says he does.
Ramy and Victoire confirm that Anthony faked his disappearance, just as Griffin faked his own death, in order to devote himself more fully to the Hermes Society. Notably, Ramy and Victoire have only worked with the Hermes Society for a few months, while Robin had previously worked for them for three years. That gives Robin more experience with the group, but it also appears to have given him more time to become jaded with the Society.
Themes
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Ramy is angry that Robin didn’t tell him about the Hermes Society for three years. To Ramy, it feels like Robin was lying to them by keeping the secret. Robin thinks, but doesn’t say, that he was worried that Ramy and Victoire had more to lose if they joined the Hermes Society than he did, because he could sometimes pass for White, and his guardian was a member of the Babel faculty. Ramy asks what else happened when Robin was caught, and Robin says he gave Lovell the information about the Hermes Society safe house at St. Aldate’s. Victoire and Ramy are both taken aback. Ramy says that Robin betrayed the Hermes Society. Robin says he was just trying to survive. Ramy says that survival is well and good, but one must retain some dignity while surviving.
This passage again explores how intersectionality and privilege function. In Robin’s case, while he faces racism, he also acknowledges that he benefits from sometimes passing for White and from the privilege of having a guardian on the Babel faculty. These are privileges that Ramy and Victoire do not have, and thus Robin tried to protect his friends. Ramy also indicts Robin for betraying the Hermes Society. By betraying the Society, Robin has not only essentially accepted his complicity in Babel’s crimes but has also actively assisted in damaging the group working to put an end to those crimes.
Themes
After that, the rest of the voyage is miserable. At one point, Letty approaches Robin and says that she knows Professor Lovell is his father. She says she isn’t sure what happened, but she’s noticed that he’s been treating him differently recently. She assures Robin that she’s here for him if he needs anything. Lovell tutors Letty, Victoire, and Ramy in Mandarin every afternoon with the idea that they’ll be able to navigate once they reach Canton. Robin tells them that Mandarin won’t help them much, as people speak Cantonese in Canton. But Lovell doesn’t know Cantonese, Robin adds. Only Robin does, which is why Lovell needs him, Robin thinks. Lovell also explains the trade negotiations that they are all supposed to help with. Just before the end of the trip, Ramy and Robin talk again. Despite everything that has happened, it’s clear that Ramy still cares about Robin.
Letty’s awareness that Lovell is Robin’s father makes it clear that others have picked up on the fact that the two are related, even if Robin hasn’t said anything. That seems to make Lovell’s disavowal of Robin as his son that much more egregious, as the fact appears to essentially be an open secret. Lovell’s lack of knowledge of Cantonese—and his apparently purposeless efforts to teach Ramy, Letty, and Victoire Mandarin—highlights Lovell’s racism, and it suggests that he doesn’t actually want to learn or teach languages that are going to lead to positive cultural exchange and understanding.
Themes
