Previous
Chapter 2
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
A week later, Professor Lovell and Robin travel to Oxford via stagecoach. The coach is an older model with no silver bar embedded in its floor, so the ride is long and bumpy. During the trip, a woman who is knitting makes several racist comments about Robin and Chinese people. When they arrive in Oxford, Professor Lovell, who is a professor of East Asian languages at the university, drops Robin off and leaves. Robin goes to his lodgings. There, he finds another student, named Ramiz Rafi Mirza, who is from India. He goes by Ramy. Ramy says his guardian wanted him to adjust to English society before going to Oxford. Robin says that his guardian wanted the same thing.
This passage shows the extent to which racism is present in English society. Not only is Robin raised by someone who is virulently racist, but he also encounters racism among strangers as soon as he leaves the house. That depiction portrays a world in which Robin is never fully safe from racism. The similarities between Robin and Ramy’s stories suggest that it’s not a coincidence that they ended up at Oxford. Instead, there seems to be a system (of which they are not entirely aware) that has funneled them into Oxford.
Themes
Robin is struck by the similarities between himself and Ramy. Their rooms are across the hall from each other, and the two quickly bond. Robin is struck by how witty, worldly, and well-read Ramy is. They spend three days together before classes start. In Oxford, unlike in London, Ramy and Robin stand out. While Robin tries to assimilate and remain unnoticed, Ramy seems to think that if he is going to stand out, he “might as well dazzle.”
Up to this point, Robin has been raised in almost complete isolation aside from his tutors, Lovell, and Mrs. Piper. Due to that isolation, he seems in desperate need of a friend, and Ramy becomes that friend. This passage also points out the differences in Robin and Ramy’s personalities, showing that while Robin seems more reserved, Ramy is more outgoing.
Themes
One night, before classes start, Ramy and Robin return to their lodgings at Number 4, Magpie Lane, and the other boys who live at the lodgings are there. One of the boys, named Colin, gives a lengthy speech about the levels of status that different gowns signify. The other boys who live there then make racist comments about Ramy and Robin. Colin says that Oxford doesn’t admit people like them, meaning people of color, unless they are affiliated with the Translation Institute. The other boys then make other comments demeaning women. Later, the other boys go out and don’t invite Ramy and Robin to go with them. Robin and Ramy mutually decide that they’ll be friends and won’t be friends with the other boys.
The novel depicts the students who live at Magpie Lane as average Oxford students, suggesting that the culture both at Oxford and within England in general is saturated with racism. Neither Robin nor Ramy can go anywhere, including the house where they live, without encountering racism. Notably, the racist boys who live in the same residence as Ramy and Robin follow up their racist comments with comments demeaning women, showing that Oxford is a hostile environment both for people of color and for women.
Themes
On the last day before classes, Robin and Ramy explore Oxford. They visit a library called the Bodleian, which they find especially impressive. As they walk home at night from the library, they come across a group of boys. One of them, named Mark, sees Ramy and makes a racist remark. He says that Ramy shouldn’t be allowed to wear the school robes. Ramy prepares to fight them, but Robin runs in the other direction. Robin feels like a coward. Ramy follows not long after. Robin apologizes for running, but Ramy says he did the right thing. Robin isn’t sure if either of them thinks that’s true. Ramy then realizes he left his notebook behind. Robin offers to go get it, and Ramy thanks him. Neither acknowledges it, but both understand that Robin is going because he can pass for White at night, while Ramy cannot.
This passage again underlines the fact that racism is rampant on the Oxford campus and inescapable for Robin and Ramy. The passage also shows how that racism can quickly take a turn toward violence. It also underlines the fact that the racism that Robin and Ramy experience is not the same. Instead, there are circumstances in which Robin can pass for White, including when he is walking on campus at night, while Ramy is unsafe in those same circumstances. The novel points that out to portray the nuances of how different people experience racism and how the different aspects of one’s identity lead to unique experiences of privilege and oppression.
Themes
Get the entire Babel LitChart as a printable PDF.
As Robin makes his way back to get the notebook, he hears someone whispering the Chinese word wúxíng, which means “invisible” or “incorporeal” in English. Robin goes to take a closer look and sees three young people. There are two men and one woman. They are carrying a trunk, but it seems to have spilled. Silver bars are strewn over the ground. When one of the people looks up, Robin feels like he’s looking in a mirror. The man looks just like him. He asks Robin to help. Robin isn’t sure why he does, but he decides to help. He takes one of the silver bars and repeats the word, “Wúxíng.”
Robin seems to have stumbled onto a robbery in progress. Up to this point, Robin has been portrayed as a reserved person who tries to avoid attracting attention or running afoul of people in power. His decision to help the apparent thieves then marks a major turning point for him as a character. Robin says that he isn’t sure why he helps the robbers. That seems to suggest that, despite liking some things about Oxford, Robin may also already be suspicious of the university as an institution and is therefore willing to help people who appear to be stealing from it.
Themes
Robin and the group become incorporeal and invisible. Robin can’t describe the sensation. A police officer runs to where they are hiding. He looks straight at Robin but doesn’t see him and then leaves. After the officer leaves, Robin drops the silver bar. The group becomes visible again. Robin’s doppelgänger and the two others scoop up the silver bars and begin to leave. Robin knows that what’s happening must be illegal and thinks the right thing to do would be to alert the authorities. But he can’t bring himself to do it. Robin’s doppelgänger tells Robin to look for him at a place in town called the Twisted Root.
Right now, all Robin knows is that the group he is assisting is stealing silver bars from Oxford. He doesn’t know why they are doing it, and he doesn’t even quite know why he chooses to help them. His hesitancy about alerting the authorities about the theft, though, signals again that Robin may have misgivings about Oxford as an institution, and those misgivings then manifest themselves in his willingness to help people who are acting against the institution in some way.
Themes
