Remembering Babylon Essay

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Remembering Babylon by David Malouf 1. Implications of “Remembering Babylon”: Pun * Remembering * Gemmy forgot his identity: Blood in white but behavior in black * Fragmented memories * E.g. Gemmy remembers being washed ashore and taken in by the tribal people. * Eg. The smell of wood in Mrs. Hutchence house is familiar to Gemmy as he had smelled it in his childhood * Remembering=pieces of memory has arose in his mind * Remembering * Gemmy wanted the pieces of paper that people wrote down his experiences on * George handed him some quiz paper * Gemmy left with disappointment * “Gemmy was gone.” * People express their gratitude towards Gemmy * “There is the sense that Janet and Lachlan felt guilty for the way things played out with Gemmy, for the fact that he disappeared, even for the way that they looked at him while they were trying to love him.” * “[Mr Frazer] felt humble now; and most of all when Gemmy, recalling no doubt the persecutions he had used against him, shrank at his approach.” * Have to remember Gemmy * Babylon * The earlier name Babilla appears to be an adaptation of a non-Semitic source of unknown origin or meaning. * In the Hebrew Bible is interpreted in the Book of Genesis (11:9) to mean "confusion" * In the Book of Revelation, the destruction of 'Babylon', a city which seems to be a symbol of every kind of evil, is foretold. * Jerusalem=the white as the white used to claim that they are the savior * Gemmy=originate in Europe but behave as a blackConfusion of identity * Babylon can symbolize the identity of Gemmy * Remembering Babylon=Remember Gemmy (evil) 2. Ambiguity of the ending The leaving of Gemmy left ambiguity to the readers: * Why he left? * What is the implication of his leaving? * 1st interpretation Gemmy found

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