, ENG3705 ASSIGNMENT 3 ANSWERS
DUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2025
The Impossibility of Returning to the Past in Babel
Introduction
In Chapter 32 of R.F. Kuang’s Babel (2022: 516–526), the central characters find
themselves at a critical juncture where the fractures in their relationships, loyalties,
and political commitments have reached a point of no return. Within this chapter,
Letty Price pleads with her companions: “I just want things to go back to the way
they were. We had a future together, all of us” (Kuang, 2022: 519). This plea
crystallises one of the novel’s most pressing thematic questions: whether, in the
aftermath of betrayal, violence, and ideological divergence, it is ever possible to
recover a lost state of innocence, unity, or imagined harmony. Letty’s words are
spoken with desperation, but they also reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the
irreversible consequences of her own choices and the larger historical forces that
shape the world of Babel. In this essay, I will argue that it is not possible for “things to
go back to the way they were” because betrayal has permanently reshaped trust,
political conditions have escalated into irreversible conflict, and the very notion of a
unified future was always illusory. By carefully analysing the arguments and positions
of the characters in Chapter 32, supported by broader evidence from the novel, I will
demonstrate that Letty’s longing for restoration is less a realistic possibility than a
form of denial.
Letty’s Plea as Nostalgia and Denial
Letty’s plea functions as an emotional expression of nostalgia rather than a practical
assessment of reality. Her statement—“We had a future together, all of us” (Kuang,
2022: 519)—invokes the early days of their friendship at Babel, where Robin, Ramy,
Victoire, and Letty once shared the intellectual and emotional bond of translation. Yet
this imagined unity was already compromised by unequal social structures,
particularly race, gender, and class. Even at Babel, Letty’s privilege as a white
Englishwoman often clashed with the experiences of her racialised peers, who
endured discrimination and exclusion. Her longing to “go back” overlooks that the
DUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2025
The Impossibility of Returning to the Past in Babel
Introduction
In Chapter 32 of R.F. Kuang’s Babel (2022: 516–526), the central characters find
themselves at a critical juncture where the fractures in their relationships, loyalties,
and political commitments have reached a point of no return. Within this chapter,
Letty Price pleads with her companions: “I just want things to go back to the way
they were. We had a future together, all of us” (Kuang, 2022: 519). This plea
crystallises one of the novel’s most pressing thematic questions: whether, in the
aftermath of betrayal, violence, and ideological divergence, it is ever possible to
recover a lost state of innocence, unity, or imagined harmony. Letty’s words are
spoken with desperation, but they also reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the
irreversible consequences of her own choices and the larger historical forces that
shape the world of Babel. In this essay, I will argue that it is not possible for “things to
go back to the way they were” because betrayal has permanently reshaped trust,
political conditions have escalated into irreversible conflict, and the very notion of a
unified future was always illusory. By carefully analysing the arguments and positions
of the characters in Chapter 32, supported by broader evidence from the novel, I will
demonstrate that Letty’s longing for restoration is less a realistic possibility than a
form of denial.
Letty’s Plea as Nostalgia and Denial
Letty’s plea functions as an emotional expression of nostalgia rather than a practical
assessment of reality. Her statement—“We had a future together, all of us” (Kuang,
2022: 519)—invokes the early days of their friendship at Babel, where Robin, Ramy,
Victoire, and Letty once shared the intellectual and emotional bond of translation. Yet
this imagined unity was already compromised by unequal social structures,
particularly race, gender, and class. Even at Babel, Letty’s privilege as a white
Englishwoman often clashed with the experiences of her racialised peers, who
endured discrimination and exclusion. Her longing to “go back” overlooks that the
