Mae’s Reviews > Babel > Status Update

I'm conflicted with Letty. While I relate to her struggles—especially those tied to her gender—Letty is after all, a white woman. Kuang explains that oppression of women transcends race, affecting all women. Yet Letty clings to the very white ideals that set her apart from her peers. "civilized" vs "religious", and resembles white presence in Central Asia to Paradise on Earth—statements steeped in imperialist logic.

"The British aren't going to invade with English troops. They're going to invade with troops from Bengal and Bombay. They're going to have sepoys fight the Afghans [...] because those Indian troops have the same logic you do, which is that it's better to be a servant of the Empire, brutal coercion and all, than to resist. And that's how they win [...]. They pit us against each other. They tear us apart."

"Many of Babel's customers were ready to believe that their silver-work made use of foreign languages, but not that their maintenance involved foreign-born scholars [...]"