Babel - Entry 1
May 8, 2024 * literature, babel * part 1
Contents
In this first part of the book, we’re exposed to a young boy laying half-dead in a house in Canton in the 1830s, with his mother already dead from Cholera. A mysterious man appears, later introducing himself as Professor Lovell, and heals the boy with a bar of silver, seemingly using magic. He reveals that he’s from London, and has come to take the boy back with him to study, and states that he ought to choose a white name. The boy picks the name “Robin Swift”, and finds himself on a passage to London.
We’re then introduced to Robin’s initial education and experience in London, at Professor Lovell’s house, taken care of by a housekeeper named Mrs. Piper. It’s revealed that Britain used silver bars to create magic using language, and that magic helped it consolidate its global dominance. Robin is to matriculate into Oxford upon completing his general education in the classics under the tutelage of private teachers which visit Professor Lovell’s home every day. The days are mostly uneventful as Robin is taught Greek, Latin, and his Chinese is reinforced, and Professor Lovell starts buying him books.
This idyllic image of Professor Lovell as a white savior starts to crack when we see Robin’s eavesdropping on some conversations he was having with people who had come over. They were discussing topics revolving around British colonial dominance, and at one point, hinted that Robin might be Lovell’s child, leaving him confused. The image is finally shattered when Robin, having forgotten to attend one of his lessons while reading a book, is brutally beaten by Professor Lovell, who states that Robin needs to break past the lazy nature of “his kind”.
The next few years pass quietly, and Robin finally heads off to Oxford, where he meets Ramy, an Indian boy from Calcutta who he is immediately taken with, due to their shared story of marginalization, and a black Frenchman named Victoire, and a white girl named Letty. The four of them quickly grow close, and their time at Oxford begins.
Analysis/Reflection
My first impressions of the book are positive, and Robin’s response to his new life and education in Britain are interesting to read about. We’re shown how Robin quickly grows terrified of going back to Canton, associating the place with poverty and ignorance, desiring the material comforts of London. However at the same time we see Robin stubbornly clinging on to his identity, almost unbeknownst to himself, as he gravitates towards Ramy, who exhibits a steadfast loyalty to his homeland and culture, and who shares a background similar to that of Robin’s.
1830’s Britain, at one of the heights of their colonial dominance, is brazenly described as unapologetically white supremacist and racist, using characters such a Professor Lovell, as well as his colleagues and companions that sometimes visit the house, which don’t bother to disguise their opinions on other nations and demographics.
On a more personal note, I really like seeing Ramy’s character. While at this point, I haven’t read far enough to have a more nuanced understanding of his character, he may very well be one of the first or few Indian, but also Muslim, characters I’ve read about in fiction. It’s refreshing, especially because much of the Indian representation in fictitious media tends to be Hindus, and only really represent a portion of India’s otherwise incredibly large, rich, and diverse cultural landscape. I also think Ramy’s character, being steadfast and headstrong in his devotion to his faith and culture, stands at a contrast to Robin’s more cowardly, and less confrontational relationship with his background. Robin at a first glance passes as white, whereas that’s out of the question for Ramy, and that shapes many of their interactions with the people around them in their initial time at Oxford.
This is also relatively early on in the story, but we see Robin’s first confrontation with the implications of his study of translation and silverworking at Oxford when he meets his half brother, Griffin. The suspicion that Robin is Professor Lovell’s son is confirmed, and we learn that Griffin, an earlier son of his, left Babel, faked his death, and joined a group called the Hermes Society. According to Griffin, Babel and silverworking are institutions which uphold Britain’s colonial dominance and suppress their motherlands, and he works to stop them. Robin, while somewhat apprehensive, finds allure in the idea of fighting for justice, and agrees to help. I think from here we can extrapolate that Robin is in love with the idea of fighting for his homeland, and it raises his own internal struggle as to whether or not he should fight and resist or continue to enjoy Oxford’s material luxuries.