Hi friends! We hope that you’ve been enjoying Babel — we sure did! We’re really excited to discuss this novel with you all and you can check out the discussion questions and our answers below!
Question 1: R.F. Kuang’s usage of names — particularly, how different names represent different things, and different facets of people, is evident throughout Babel. For example, we see Ramy distinguish between ‘Ramiz’ and ‘Ramy’ in different situations, or how Robin is only always referred to by his English name. Why do you think that is?
Caitlyn: Names are so intrinsic to who we are — you meet someone and the first thing that happens is you introduce yourself, you tell them who you are. Names have meanings, and our names are often chosen for us because our parents believe in the meaning behind them or our names represent the hopes and dreams that our parents have for us. Names are incredibly important, and in Babel, R.F. Kuang reminds us of their importance.
Names are very personal, and many of us have multiple names that we go by. We may have nicknames that are used by our family and friends, names that are more personal and represent a bond or relationship that has been formed over time. Ramy makes that clear in his introduction by saying that his name is Ramiz, but his friends call him Ramy. For him, the use of Ramy represents familiarity and a connection, which is why he makes it clear that Ramy is a name that is used only by his friends — it’s also interesting that right away when he says that, Letty says “Hello Ramiz”, just some food for thought.
One of the first things I said after finishing Babel was, “We never learned Robin’s real name”, which among the many things in Babel that broke me, may be one of the things that makes me saddest. Robin never being referred to by his Chinese name further cements the disconnect that he feels between his culture and his identity. When they go to Canton, Robin admits to himself that he hadn’t even thought to introduce himself using his Chinese name, as he hasn’t identified with it for so long. The fact that Lovell refuses to use Robin’s real name, and to speak Robin’s mother’s name, heavily impacts Robin’s sense of self and is a huge reason why he struggles with his identity throughout the book.
Cossette: In Babel, Ramy introduces himself as “Ramiz Mirza. Ramy to friends.”, and Letty immediately follows up with “Hello Ramiz”. I’ve always found that interaction interesting, especially given the nature of Ramy and Letty’s dynamic. I wrote a bit about how Robin’s only referred to by his English name, and how his English name is entirely that — English — in my Annotate with Me post, but I’ll expand on it here. Robin’s name strips him of any ties to his Chinese identity; it’s removing his lineage and really, the only surviving thing he has from his mother was his Chinese name. Later, when Robin confronts Lovell and asks him to say his mother’s name, Lovell refuses — Lovell isn’t just refusing to say Robin’s mother’s name, but also refusing to acknowledge Robin’s Chinese identity, as well as Lovell’s own past. Throughout the book, we see names being equated with power and knowledge — When Robin initially joins the Hermes society, he realizes how little he knows of them, or their allies. His only contact is Griffin. Names imply knowledge, a closeness, familiarity, but it’s also a representation of someone’s lineage and culture.
Question 2: How did you feel about the interludes? How do you think they served the story? Did you find yourself wanting interludes from other characters? If so, who?
Caitlyn: I loved the interludes! While I fully understand why the book was from Robin’s point of view, I would’ve loved to have had more instances where we got to see what was going on in Ramy and Victorie’s heads, and even Letty’s during some pivotal moments. It also would’ve been great to get some interludes from members of the Hermes Society — especially Griffin and Anthony — as I think that would’ve been really interesting.
Cossette: Personally, I really loved the interludes! In fact, I often found myself wishing that we knew more about Ramy, Victorie, and even Letty, that I wanted more interludes. I wonder if the book would’ve been stronger if Babel had been told from multiple point of views, and not just Robin’s, but I did appreciate getting to learn more about Ramy, Victorie and Letty in the interludes. I also wanted interludes from Griffin and Anthony; I think they would’ve been interesting characters to know more about.
Question 3: On page 88 it says, “Later, when everything went sideways and the world broke in half, Robin would think back to this day, to this hour at this table, and wonder why they had been so quick, so carelessly eager to trust one another. Why had they refused to see the myriad ways they could hurt each other? Why had they not paused to interrogate their differences in birth, in raising, that meant they were not and could never be on the same side?.” How do you think this foreshadows the inevitable downfall between Robin, Ramy, Victorie, and Letty?
Caitlyn: This line really stood out to me during my Babel read. When we first meet them, it’s obvious how different they all are —- outside of being Babel students, I don’t think the four of them would really be friends. Well, Ramy, Robin, and Victorie probably would be friends, but I very highly doubt that Letty would be part of that group. However, because the Babel students are so isolated from anyone outside of their group, and even isolated from the other Babel students outside of their grade, it makes sense that they would dive headfirst into this friendship, simply so that they wouldn’t be alone.
What I love about this line specifically, is that we’re told exactly why their friendship can’t last — their differences in birth and raising does not allow them to be on the same side. However, there’s still this sense of hope that things don’t have to end the way that we all know they will, and that makes it all the more heartbreaking. You know how it’s going to end, but you still hope that something will happen and make the ending different.
Cossette: The first time I read the Babel ARC, I highlighted this quote, and thought it reminded me a little bit of If We Were Villains. It’s very clear that things will never be the same after this day, and that R.F. Kuang is building the story up for everything to fall apart. This quote specifically shows us the reason for the fall out will be; that they didn’t stop to think about how their identities affected how each of them walked through the world.
Question 4: To what extent does whiteness serve a role in the character dynamics in Babel? How does Robin being white-passing affect his interactions with the other students at Oxford, and with Ramy, Victorie and Letty specifically? How does Letty’s whiteness affect her relationships, and her justifications for her actions?
Caitlyn: Whiteness and the privilege that comes with it is one of the main cruxes of Babel. For Robin, as he’s white passing, there is a level of privilege that is extended to him that neither Ramy nor Victorie receives, and it affects a lot of choices. Ramy and Victorie have a clear understanding of who they are as they are still connected to their families and their culture in a way that Robin has never been able to achieve — since he doesn’t have that, he assimilates far more than they do to make up for that sense of belonging that he so desperately craves. When it comes to Letty, she is just completely unaware of her privilege as a white woman. While yes, she experiences moments of oppression as a woman at Oxford since this was not a time when women were respected for their intelligence (or really in general), she does not actually know what it means to be oppressed since as a white woman, she’s still at least seen as a person in a way that Robin, Ramy, and Victorie are not. Do I think that Letty cared about them on some level? Yes, I do. But she didn’t care about them enough to really listen to what it was that they were saying as it did not fit with the way she sees the world, and ultimately, she choose to continue living in her ignorance and turned herself into the victim instead of examining the ways in which she has benefitted from her whiteness.
Cossette: From the get-go, Robin craves acceptance and assimilation in a way that Ramy and Victorie never do. Especially after Robin realizes that Professor Lovell is his father, and his sole surviving family member. Where Ramy and Victorie still have ties to their home, and their families, all Robin has is this foreign land, and a man who doesn’t want to claim him as his son. Robin seeks community, and is trying his best to find it at Oxford. Robin wants it so badly that he’s willing to overlook acts of racism that Ramy and Victorie experience. For Letty, she’s too caught up in her own privilege and her white feminism that she doesn’t care to examine how her identity impacts her. I think that Letty does on some level care for Ramy, Robin and Victorie, but not enough to give up her own luxuries, or to stop centering herself and her experiences. Letty tries to justify her actions out of “love”, and that she understands what it’s like, because she also experiences acts of oppression as a woman.
Question 5: Babel asks, “Do we try our hardest, as translators, to render ourselves invisible? Or do we remind our reader that what they are reading was not written in their native language?”, and “Is faithful translation impossible?”. On page 153, Professor Playfair says “Translation means doing violence upon the original, means warping and distorting it for foreign, unintended eyes. So then where does that leave us? How can we conclude, except by acknowledging that an act of translation is then necessarily always an act of betrayal?” (153). What do you think about this?
Caitlyn: I say this with truly the most respect in the world for any translator — there’s no such thing as a perfect translation, so there’s always a sense of betrayal and sacrifice on some level when there is translation. It’s so difficult to get a word for word translation, simply because different languages have different words and meanings, so there is always some sort of interpretation that goes along with translation. There’s a reason why the phrase “lost in translation” is so widely used.
Cossette: I think an act of translation is always an act of betrayal on some level. There just has to be an element of sacrifice. I think it’s rare for a word to have a perfect translation, and I say this with the utmost respect for translators, but I think they’re often working with word count, character count, different rules — there are different connotations for words in different languages.
Question 6: On page 29, Robin is asked: “Where would your loyalties lie? Here, or back home?”. Throughout Babel, Robin has conflicting feelings on his place at Babel and Oxford, and struggles with his identity. On page 68, it says “They were men at Oxford; they were not Oxford men. But the enormity of this knowledge was so devastating, such a vicious antithesis to the three golden days they’d blindly enjoyed, that neither of them could say it out loud.” How do you think Robin’s ties to home throughout the novel affect his actions? How do you think the trip to Canton influences his choices?
Caitlyn: Robin is pretty unmoored throughout the novel. He was taken away from the only home he’d ever known as a child, and then told to completely forget that world and assimilate into a different world, and a world that barely saw him as human at that. He has a distorted idea of who he is as he doesn’t really fit in, and there’s a sense of longing that he doesn’t fully understand. I think that the Canton trip really put things into perspective for him and made him realize what it was that he was missing all along.
Cossette: Throughout the novel, Robin is trying to grapple with the idea of “home” and belonging. On one hand, he’s told by Professor Lovell not to forget his language, but also told by everyone else around him that he needs to assimilate to survive at Babel. I think that Robin idly goes along for the first half of the book, until he returns to Canton and realizes what he’s been missing. The Canton trip opens up his eyes, and shows him how Professor Lovell ripped him from his home, his culture, his ties. It reminds him of his privilege, and his identity and true belonging.
Thank you all so much for joining our Babel read! We’re looking forward to reading Arsenic and Adobo with everyone next month! If you missed the announcement you can read up on our November pick here. See you next month!
