David Malouf Remembering Babylon - Essay Example

Is it Jerusalem or is it Babylon? David Malouf’s novel Remembering Babylon talks about a person who emerged in a society of “white people” after being in the custody of Aboriginals in the Queensland. He went in the Aboriginal’s custody after fleeting off from England and has been cast over to the shores of Australia. He was able to adapt the culture and way of living of the Aboriginal people as the years passed by. When other “white people” saw him, they thought that he was also an Aboriginal.

As the story go, they later on discovered his true roots. A theme that can be said about this novel is that it tackles issues about courage namely courage to face the unknown and courage to face the facts. There has been a saying that people are afraid of what they do not know. This is a fact, regardless of race or social class. In the novel, Gemmy was feared by the people because they could not understand what he was saying and what he is capable of doing (Malouf).The quote “Whether this is Jerusalem or Babylon we know not” was first mentioned by William Blake.

It was mentioned at the start of Malouf’s novel. Blake’s aim is to address a person’s instinct to always compare things. But what is the connection of Malouf’s novel to Blake’s passage? The passage is somewhat connected to Gemmy’s arrival and stay in the settlement. Malouf tried connecting Gemmy’s arrival at the settlement with Babylon while as his story is being connected to the emergence of the New Jerusalem. If the answer would be based on Blake’s passage, it can be said that it depends on how a person would see the facts being faced.

A person can choose either way but in the end they can only choose one. A person cannot serve 2 masters at the same time.Babylon is already a civilization long gone. What remains are Babylon’s culture and traditions. New Jerusalem is like the promise land that has been said many times in religious context. When Gemmy arrived at the civilization, was it a Babylon for him or a New Jerusalem? It is not the place that matters but the people who lives in them and how they would be accepting new people in their society (Busby).

However, there are some studies of the bible where others do say that Babylon and Jerusalem is one and the same. In relation to the novel then, such views regarding Babylon have different implications. Different people can have different experiences at a certain place. One can be rich and popular at a place yet another maybe poor and unknown. The fate of one person differs from another. Just like the diversity that happened in Gemmy’s life. He lives in the same country as Lachlan, Janet and Meg but he is not that educated and civilized as them.

They all have the same skin color, but the settlement do have different acceptance towards them. Despite of their differences, they are all humans and should be treated equally so that society will have peace and be able to succeed. Conflicts will always be present in a certain place but it can easily be resolved if people will be open-minded in handling issues that though they have differences they can still come up to decision where they can co-exist without any arguments.Works Cited:Busby, Sheila Lewis.

Could Jerusalem be Mystery Babylon the Great? 1997. Erdman, David V., Bloom, Harold. The Poetry and Prose of William Blake. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company. 1965Malouf, David. Remembering Babylon. London, England: Vintage. 1993.