Babel Symbol in Babel

Babel, the name of the Translation Institute building at Oxford, symbolizes the power that the British Empire holds over other people and countries as a result of its violent, immoral, and extractive colonialist practices. The name Babel comes from the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. In that story, all humans share one, universal language. Because they share a language, they can work with extraordinary efficiency, and they begin constructing a tower that, when finished, will be tall enough to reach the heavens. God grows threatened by the humans’ power, and to ensure they cannot overtake him, God makes humans speak several different languages. Once they are unable to understand one another, the humans are unable to work efficiently and cannot complete the tower, a sign that their power has been greatly diminished.

The novel complicates, and inverts, that biblical story to make a larger point about the evils of colonization and colonialist power structures. In Babel, the British Empire has erected their own Tower of Babel (the building that houses the Translation Institute). That empire uses its Translation Institute, or its Tower of Babel, to hoard power for itself while exploiting others. Like God in the biblical story, Robin and others sympathetic to the anti-colonialist Hermes Society then destroy the tower. Unlike God, though, Robin and the others destroy the tower to dismantle the mechanisms of colonialism, thereby ensuring greater equity across the globe. With that in mind, the novel portrays Babel as a symbol of the exploitative and extractive practices of British colonialism. Destroying that symbol, as Robin and others do at the end of the novel, then paves the way for a world governed by equal exchanges between different cultures, rather than a world defined by the exploitative and inequitable colonial system practiced by the British Empire.

Babel Quotes in Babel

The Babel quotes below all refer to the symbol of Babel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

The boy gave an uncertain nod. London existed to him like Lilliput did: a faraway, imaginary, fantasy place where no one looked, dressed, or spoke remotely like him.

‘I propose to bring you with us. You will live at my estate, and I will provide you with room and board until you’ve grown old enough to make your own living. In return, you will take courses in a curriculum of my design. It will be language work – Latin, Greek, and of course, Mandarin. You will enjoy an easy, comfortable life, and the best education that one can afford. All I expect in return is that you apply yourself diligently to your studies.’

Related Characters: Professor Lovell (speaker), Robin, Robin’s Mother

Related Symbols: Babel

Page Number and Citation: 10

Explanation and Analysis:

‘But how does this happen?’ he continued. ‘How does all the power from foreign languages just somehow accrue to England? This is no accident; this is a deliberate exploitation of foreign culture and foreign resources. The professors like to pretend that the tower is a refuge for pure knowledge, that it sits above the mundane concerns of business and commerce, but it does not. It’s intricately tied to the business of colonialism. It is the business of colonialism […] Everything Babel does is in the service of expanding the Empire.’

Related Characters: Griffin (speaker), Robin

Related Symbols: Babel, Silver Bars

Page Number and Citation: 99-100

Explanation and Analysis:

‘What was lost at Babel was not merely human unity, but the original language – something primordial and innate, perfectly understandable and lacking nothing in form or content. Biblical scholars call it the Adamic language. Some think it is Hebrew. Some think it is a real but ancient language that has been lost to time. Some think it is a new, artificial language that we ought to invent. Some think French fulfils this role; some think English, once it’s finished robbing and morphing, might.’

Related Characters: Professor Playfair (speaker), Robin, Ramy, Victoire, Letty

Related Symbols: Babel

Page Number and Citation: 107

Explanation and Analysis:

‘I gave them a Kreyòl-French match-pair,’ Victoire said. ‘And it worked, worked like a charm, only Professor Leblanc said they couldn’t put it in the Current Ledger because he didn’t see how a Kreyòl match-pair would be useful to anyone who doesn’t speak Kreyòl. And then I said it’d be of great use to people in Haiti, and then he laughed.’

‘Oh, dear.’ Letty rubbed her shoulder. ‘Did they let you try a different one?’

She’d asked the wrong question. Robin saw a flash of irritation in Victoire’s eyes, but it was gone in an instant. She sighed and nodded.

Related Characters: Letty (speaker), Victoire (speaker), Robin

Related Symbols: Babel, Silver Bars

Page Number and Citation: 235

Explanation and Analysis:

‘I’d like for us to start anew. A clean slate for you, a renewed commitment on my part to be a better guardian. We’ll pretend the past few days never happened. We’ll put the Hermes Society, and Griffin, behind us. We’ll think only of the future, and all the glorious and brilliant things you will achieve at Babel. Is that fair?’

Robin was momentarily struck dumb. To be honest, this was not a very large concession. Professor Lovell had only apologized for being, occasionally, somewhat distant. He hadn’t apologized for refusing to claim Robin as a son. He hadn’t apologized for letting his mother die.

Still, he’d made a greater acknowledgment of Robin’s feelings than he’d ever done, and for the first time since they’d boarded the Merope, Robin felt that he could breathe.

‘Yes, sir,’ Robin murmured, for there was nothing else to say.

Related Characters: Professor Lovell (speaker), Robin (speaker), Griffin, Robin’s Mother

Related Symbols: Babel

Page Number and Citation: 280-281

Explanation and Analysis:

We, the students of the Royal Institute of Translation, demand Britain cease consideration of an unlawful war against China. Given this government’s determination to initiate hostilities and its brutal suppression of those working to expose its motives, we have no other option to make our voices heard than to cease all translation and silver-working services by the Institute, until such time as our demands are met. We henceforth declare our strike.

Related Characters: Robin, Victoire

Related Symbols: Babel, Silver Bars

Page Number and Citation: 458

Explanation and Analysis:

‘That’s just what translation is, I think. That’s all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.’

Related Characters: Ramy (speaker), Robin

Related Symbols: Babel, Silver Bars

Page Number and Citation: 535

Explanation and Analysis:

Babel Symbol Timeline in Babel

The timeline below shows where the symbol Babel appears in Babel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Language, Translation, and Power Theme Icon

...the first-year students a tour of the Translation Institute building, which is referred to as Babel. Anthony points out the live translation and literary translation wings. He says that the travel... (full context)

Race, Gender, and Intersectionality Theme Icon

...a workshop than a library. There, they meet Professor Jerome Playfair. Professor Playfair says that Babel is the only part of Oxford that admits students who are “not of European origin.”... (full context)

...of the tower can distinguish students from potential thieves. There are more attempted robberies of Babel, he says, than of all the banks in England. After their blood is drawn, Professor... (full context)

...need it more. Griffin says that the group functions like Robin Hood. He explains that Babel makes much of its money by selling its wares to wealthy Englanders who use it... (full context)

Griffin continues and says that Babel collects and then exploits people from foreign cultures, who work at Babel, to fuel England’s... (full context)

...Translation Theory. Playfair lectures on the concept of translation and about the biblical story of Babel. He says that in some accounts, what was lost at Babel was an original language,... (full context)

...Craft and asks if she would like to talk to the girls who study at Babel about her experiences in a male-dominated environment. Craft shuts down the conversation. She says that... (full context)

...colleague. Robin thinks it must be because he is the only native Chinese speaker at Babel. Robin then asks Professor Chakravarti if there are any other native speakers. When Robin presses,... (full context)

...is excited to see Robin. At dinner, Robin finds that now that he’s started at Babel, he can talk more easily with Professor Lovell. The two speak like colleagues. Robin brings... (full context)

...and China, even though they’re providing valuable resources in terms of language and translators to Babel, don’t have the same stocks of silver that England does. Professor Lovell says that it’s... (full context)

...woman.” Then, the doorbell rings, and in walks Sterling Jones, one of the stars of Babel’s faculty. Sterling and Professor Lovell begin talking and forget about Robin. When Robin leaves, he... (full context)

...Eventually, he figures out that it’s a message telling Robin to open the door to Babel exactly at midnight the next time it rains. On Wednesday, it rains. Robin walks to... (full context)

...will happen in the future. It doesn’t seem sustainable, Robin says, to keep robbing from Babel while going to school at Oxford and then working at Babel. Griffin says that most... (full context)

...tries to determine how he should feel about Oxford and the Hermes Society. At Oxford, Babel is the most prestigious part of the University, so he and his cohort enjoy a... (full context)

...can try and convince themselves that they’re intellectually on par with people who study at Babel, like Robin. Robin thinks the poem is terrible and doesn’t praise it. He gets into... (full context)

...Oxford too but had been more like Elton than like the people who study at Babel. He drank too much one night and was run over by a carriage, which killed... (full context)

Letty took the entrance exams for Babel just after Lincoln died. Now, Victoire says, Letty faces the pressure of being a woman... (full context)

...to lunch. They’re joined by Anthony, the postgraduate student who gave them a tour of Babel during their first year. Anthony says that he has been working to find match-pairs of... (full context)

At one point, a chemist named Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre comes to Babel, looking for help with a camera obscura he has been working on. He can’t figure... (full context)

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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...Professor Chakravarti also do the upkeep of silver bars to help bring in money to Babel. In the process, Chakravarti tells Robin more details about silver-work. At one point, a silver... (full context)

...caught. Robin is furious. He then brings up Anthony and says it seems wrong that Babel doesn’t care about his disappearance. Griffin pauses to think for a long time. Finally, he... (full context)

Attempted break-ins at Babel increase dramatically. While there used to be one or two per term, as this term... (full context)

...turns out to be wrong. The protests continue, and general sentiment begins to turn on Babel in the following months. Someone begins publishing a newspaper at Oxford, and it advocates for... (full context)

...they also can’t look away. One student fails the exam and is promptly banished from Babel. Professor Playfair takes the student’s vial of blood from the filing system in Babel and... (full context)

...says the Hermes Society is planning to rob an upcoming shipment of silver bound for Babel. He says that he may need to store explosions in Robin’s room, so they have... (full context)

...fail any of their language or theory exams, they won’t be able to continue at Babel. If they fail their silver-work exam, they won’t be able to work on the eighth... (full context)

...at the time, Griffin considered silver-work to be the only really meaningful work done at Babel. (full context)

...the night to be over, though, and they decide to go on the roof of Babel, just the four of them. (full context)

When Robin and his cohort go to Babel, they find a gathering of Babel students and postgraduates already in progress in the lobby.... (full context)

...and the upcoming pressure of their fourth year. Morse Code is invented in 1838, and Babel becomes one of the first places to use it regularly. At the end of the... (full context)

...when Robin is working as an operator, he sees two figures clad in black approaching Babel. As they get closer, he sees that it’s Victoire and Ramy. He’s sure they must... (full context)

...and says that he’s done more for Robin than he could imagine. Robin counters that Babel functions in unjust ways, and he was trying to do the right thing by working... (full context)

...Robin says no. Lovell says that Griffin murdered her when he had been stealing from Babel. Lovell takes a silver bar from his pocket and says that Griffin used that bar... (full context)

...Robin that he has a choice to make. He can choose the Hermes Society or Babel. Robin is surprised. Lovell asks Robin if he thought he would be expelled, and Robin... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...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... (full context)

...they learned to look away from injustice, and their complicity in injustice, when studying at Babel. Robin thinks that Griffin is right to be angry. But he’s wrong to think he... (full context)

...Lovell a monster. Lovell says that they’ll talk all this over when they return to Babel. Robin grows furious. He tells Lovell to say his (Robin’s) mother’s name. He becomes increasingly... (full context)

...letters, Lovell comes across as especially hawkish. He thinks the war will provide him and Babel with vast lexical resources. The letters also describe Chinese people in virulently racist terms. (full context)

Victoire adds that Babel sells silver bars to those who trade in enslaved people to help keep people enslaved.... (full context)

Robin then goes to Babel to look through Professor Lovell’s correspondences to see if there’s anything of note. He finds... (full context)

...asks Anthony why he joined the Hermes Society. She says that she remembers him liking Babel. Ramy becomes annoyed with Letty, but Anthony tries to explain. He says that before slavery... (full context)

...takes Ramy a moment to recognize the man. It’s Sterling Jones, the star of the Babel faculty. (full context)

...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.... (full context)

...he thinks Griffin was right and that in order to win, they’ll have to seize Babel tower. (full context)

...dead. Robin sees Ramy’s body lying on the ground. Robin and Victoire then go to Babel. They’ve decided to stage their action today, and they aim to take over the tower.... (full context)

When Robin and Victoire get inside Babel, Robin stands on a table. Several students and faculty members are in the vicinity. Robin... (full context)

...to stop Robin and Victoire, Victoire says they won’t be able to because England needs Babel and its students to supply it with silver bars. Robin and Victoire then say that... (full context)

In Babel, everyone passes the afternoon in a state of nervous apprehension. No one is sure if... (full context)

Later that night, the group in Babel gets a telegram from Parliament in London. The message says only that they should stand... (full context)

...remembers resonance and how weaker bars throughout England gain power from stronger bars housed in Babel. If they sabotage those stronger bars in Babel, silver bars throughout the country will stop... (full context)

On the sixth day of the occupation and strike, a mob approaches Babel. It’s mostly made up of Oxford students. Those in Babel realize that the crowd wants... (full context)

...workers are demanding that England call off any plans to invade China. The group in Babel receives another telegram from Parliament. It says that if they resume services in Babel, the... (full context)

The next morning, when the group in Babel wakes up, they see that a series of makeshift barriers and barricades have been erected... (full context)

That night, the British Army arrives. Robin watches them approach from a window in Babel. As the Army approaches, it stops at the first barricade. Abel goes to talk to... (full context)

Meanwhile, the exiled scholars who fled when Robin and Victoire took over Babel have set up their own operation in London. They work to counteract the failing silver... (full context)

...change it from within. If they surrender, she says, they’ll be able to return to Babel. (full context)

...says they only have one move left. They can write “translate” on silver bars in Babel. That will cause the bars to self-destruct, which will cause a chain reaction that will... (full context)

...own. There will also be no amnesty unless those who leave agree to work with Babel to rebuild the British Empire. Otherwise, if they leave, they’ll have to run. Professor Craft... (full context)

Robin, Professor Craft, and the others who stay in Babel start arranging silver bars in pyramids around the tower, careful to ensure that when the... (full context)

...of Emile’s friends at Oxford, who eventually said that they would like Victoire to attend Babel. (full context)

Now, after leaving Babel, Victoire is on the run. She doesn’t know where she’s going, but she knows that... (full context)

Babel

Babel Symbol Analysis

Babel Quotes in Babel

Chapter 1 Quotes

Chapter 5 Quotes

Chapter 6 Quotes

Chapter 13 Quotes

Chapter 16 Quotes

Chapter 26 Quotes

Chapter 33 Quotes

Babel Symbol Timeline in Babel