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Chapter 23
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
Robin is transported to a cell. He thinks about what just happened. At first, he thinks that Ramy must be dead and that the Hermes Society has fallen. Then he wonders if there’s any possibility that Ramy might still be alive. After all, Letty loved him; certainly, she wouldn’t aim to kill him, Robin thinks. He then changes his mind and decides that Ramy must be dead, and grief overtakes him. Someone enters the room then. It takes Ramy a moment to recognize the man. It’s Sterling Jones, the star of the Babel faculty.
Notably, the first person to come to Robin’s cell after he is imprisoned is Sterling Jones, the “star” of the Babel faculty. That reinforces the idea that the work Babel does is in direct support of the British Empire and its colonialist efforts, as Babel sends in the “star” of its faculty to confront Robin after he’s found to be a member of an anti-colonialist group.
Themes
Sterling puts handcuffs on Robin that are equipped with a silver bar that causes Robin unbearable pain. Sterling then uses another silver bar to mentally torture Robin. Sterling tells Robin that he must give them whatever information he has about the Hermes Society. Robin says he won’t tell them anything. Robin hears Victoire screaming in the distance. Sterling tells Robin that if he doesn’t tell them what he knows, they’ll kill Victoire. Sterling begins to count down and says they’ll kill Victoire when he reaches zero. Robin thinks he must be bluffing. Robin tries to come up with a lie and blurts something out, but Sterling says it’s too late. In the distance, Robin hears Victoire’s screams, and then a gunshot, and then silence.
This passage continues to expose the hypocrisy of Babel and the British Empire when they condemn violence carried out by groups like the Hermes Society. While the Hermes Society’s actions are considered criminal by Babel and the British Empire, Babel—as represented by Sterling here—has no qualms about torturing Robin and subjecting him to extreme amounts of pain. Sterling then threatens to kill Victoire to try and force Robin to talk. In that sense, Sterling shows his comfort with using the same kind of violence that he contends is criminal when used by the Hermes Society.
Themes
Sterling leaves, and Robin is alone. He thinks of the future and can only think that Ramy and Victoire won’t be in it. He thinks that the Hermes Society has lost completely. He drifts in and out of sleep. When he wakes up, Griffin is standing over him. Robin looks up and sees that the door has been destroyed. Griffin says they have to move quickly, and he removes the handcuffs from Robin. Griffin asks where Victoire is, and Robin says he’s not sure if she’s still alive. They go to look for her. When they knock on the door to a cell, Robin is overcome with relief when he hears Victoire respond.
This passage shows that Sterling and his accomplices staged Victoire’s death to try and get Robin to talk. This passage also marks a potential turning point for Robin concerning his ideas about using violence as a tactic to support the Hermes Society’s anti-colonialist goals. While Robin previously bristled at the idea of using violence, he has now seen members of the Hermes Society violently killed while he has been subjected to torture. It remains to be seen how experiencing that violence directed against the Hermes Society will impact Robin’s views.
Themes
Griffin tells Victoire to stand back from the door and uses gunpowder to blow it open. He says he’s locked the guards in a stairwell, but they’ll get out soon. The only way for Griffin, Victoire, and Robin to escape is to climb down four stories. They throw a rope out the window and use it to descend. It seems like they’re in the clear but then Sterling appears. Sterling and Griffin had been in the same cohort at Babel and know each other well. Sterling takes out a gun and aims it at Griffin. Griffin moves quickly and takes out his revolver. The two fire simultaneously and both fall to the ground.
Griffin’s faceoff with Sterling represents again the relationship between Babel and the British Empire. Sterling as a character shows that in order to be lauded as a “star” by Babel, one must be willing to support British colonialism to the point that one is willing to torture students and kill opponents. That again shows that support for the British Empire’s racist colonization of other countries is at the heart of Babel.
Themes
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Robin and Victoire rush to Griffin, who is bleeding badly from his shoulder. He takes a silver bar from his pocket and hands it to Robin. He says that it should help him heal. Robin says the words on the silver bar, and Robin hears bones cracking and sees Griffin’s flesh coming back together as the healing process starts. But Griffin’s skin won’t close completely because the bullet is in the way. They hear voices approaching, and Griffin tells Robin and Victoire to run. He tells Robin that Victoire will know what to do. Robin doesn’t want to go, but Griffin tells him again to leave. Robin and Victoire run just as two guards arrive. One of them remarks that Sterling is dead. The other approaches Griffin and fires a bullet through his head, killing him. Robin and Victoire keep running.
The inability of the silver bar to heal and revive Griffin after he is shot can be interpreted as a symbolic representation of the impact that committing violence has on a person. While Griffin believes violence is justified to oppose colonialism, the novel suggests that even in a world of silver bars, violence leaves an indelible mark on Griffin that he can never heal from. In that sense, engaging in violence is dangerous because it can lead to someone’s death, but the novel also suggests that engaging in violence might take a toll on the person who commits that violence as well. The fact that both Griffin and Sterling die shows that violence can be mutually destructive, with no side necessarily coming out ahead.
Themes
