Victoire Character Analysis in Babel

Victoire is close friends with Robin, Ramy, and Letty. Victoire is from Haiti and spent a significant time in France before matriculating at Oxford. As a young Black woman, at Oxford, Victoire experiences profound racism, sexism, and misogyny. She also recognizes the profound injustice of the British Empire’s colonization of other countries around the globe, which leads her to join the Hermes Society in an attempt to resist and fight against that Empire. While Robin ultimately gives his own life to further those anti-colonialist goals, Victoire says that she doesn’t want to be forced to die in order to receive the pity of people who oppress her. Instead, she wants to stay alive and continue fighting against oppression.

Victoire Quotes in Babel

The Babel quotes below are all either spoken by Victoire or refer to Victoire. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Clearly Ramy wanted to fight – his fists were clenched, his knees bent in preparation to spring. If Mark drew any closer, this night would end in blood. So Robin began to run. He hated it as he did so, he felt like such a coward, but it was the only act he could imagine that didn’t end in catastrophe. For he knew that Ramy, shocked, would follow. Indeed – seconds later he heard Ramy’s footsteps behind him, his hard breathing, the curses he muttered under his breath as they sprinted down Holywell.

Related Characters: Ramy, Robin, Victoire

Page Number and Citation: 63

Explanation and Analysis:

‘What was lost at Babel was not merely human unity, but the original language – something primordial and innate, perfectly understandable and lacking nothing in form or content. Biblical scholars call it the Adamic language. Some think it is Hebrew. Some think it is a real but ancient language that has been lost to time. Some think it is a new, artificial language that we ought to invent. Some think French fulfils this role; some think English, once it’s finished robbing and morphing, might.’

Related Characters: Professor Playfair (speaker), Robin, Letty, Victoire, Ramy

Related Symbols: Babel

Page Number and Citation: 107

Explanation and Analysis:

But there were also significant ways in which they did not belong. No one would serve Ramy at any of their favourite pubs if he was the first to arrive. Letty and Victoire could not take books out of the library without a male student present to vouch for them. Victoire was assumed by shopkeepers to be Letty or Robin’s maid. Porters regularly asked all four of them if they could please not step on the green for it was off limits, while the other boys trampled over the so-called delicate grass all around them.

Related Characters: Letty, Robin, Victoire, Ramy

Page Number and Citation: 139-140

Explanation and Analysis:

‘I gave them a Kreyòl-French match-pair,’ Victoire said. ‘And it worked, worked like a charm, only Professor Leblanc said they couldn’t put it in the Current Ledger because he didn’t see how a Kreyòl match-pair would be useful to anyone who doesn’t speak Kreyòl. And then I said it’d be of great use to people in Haiti, and then he laughed.’

‘Oh, dear.’ Letty rubbed her shoulder. ‘Did they let you try a different one?’

She’d asked the wrong question. Robin saw a flash of irritation in Victoire’s eyes, but it was gone in an instant. She sighed and nodded.

Related Characters: Letty (speaker), Victoire (speaker), Robin

Related Symbols: Babel, Silver Bars

Page Number and Citation: 235

Explanation and Analysis:

‘But this is war,’ said Letty. ‘Surely that’s different, surely that’ll provoke outrage—’

‘What you don’t understand,’ said Ramy, ‘is how much people like you will excuse if it just means they can get tea and coffee on their breakfast tables. They don’t care, Letty. They just don’t care.’

Related Characters: Ramy (speaker), Letty (speaker), Victoire, Robin, Professor Lovell

Page Number and Citation: 356

Explanation and Analysis:

Sterling Jones was just the same as Letty, except without the shallow sympathy of purported friendship. They both thought this was a matter of individual fortunes instead of systematic oppression, and neither could see outside the perspective of people who looked and spoke just like them.

Related Characters: Letty, Victoire, Robin, Sterling Jones

Page Number and Citation: 415-416

Explanation and Analysis:

There was no future down this path. She saw this now. She’d been duped, strung along in this sickening charade, but this ended in only two ways: prison or the hangman. She was the only one there who wasn’t too mad to see it. And though it killed her, she had to act with resolve – for if she could not save her friends, she had at least to save herself.

Related Characters: Ramy, Letty, Robin, Victoire

Page Number and Citation: 439-440

Explanation and Analysis:

We, the students of the Royal Institute of Translation, demand Britain cease consideration of an unlawful war against China. Given this government’s determination to initiate hostilities and its brutal suppression of those working to expose its motives, we have no other option to make our voices heard than to cease all translation and silver-working services by the Institute, until such time as our demands are met. We henceforth declare our strike.

Related Characters: Victoire, Robin

Related Symbols: Babel, Silver Bars

Page Number and Citation: 458

Explanation and Analysis:

Victoire Character Timeline in Babel

The timeline below shows where the character Victoire appears in Babel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...Ramy and Robin, as women are not admitted to Oxford. They say their names are Victoire and Letty. Victoire is Black while Letty is White. (full context)

Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty then meet Anthony, who is a postgraduate. Anthony gives the first-year students a... (full context)

...bar. When he does, Robin feels the world shift. He feels bound together with Ramy, Victoire, and Letty. It is as if they know something that none of the other scholars... (full context)

After the tour, Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty eat lunch together. Over lunch, they trade stories about instances of discrimination they... (full context)

...few weeks, Robin attends classes like normal. He and his cohort—which consists of him, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty—continue to grow closer. Robin and Victoire bond over a shared love of literature.... (full context)

...in which they do not belong. Pubs won’t serve Ramy if he’s alone. Letty and Victoire can’t check out books from the library without a male student present. And while Babel... (full context)

The next morning, Robin recounts the party to Victoire, Ramy, and Letty. Victoire and Ramy laugh uproariously, especially when Robin recites the lines from... (full context)

Letty took the entrance exams for Babel just after Lincoln died. Now, Victoire says, Letty faces the pressure of being a woman at Oxford while feeling anxious that... (full context)

...first year, in the summer, Ramy goes to Spain to study, Letty goes to Germany, Victoire goes to France, and Robin goes to Malaysia. When they come back, they’re all excited... (full context)

That year, Robin, Ramy, Letty, and Victoire also take a class on Etymology with Professor Lovell. The class turns out to be... (full context)

...daguerreotype. Robin and his friends have their picture taken with the device. Robin, Ramy, and Victoire find the resulting image unsettling, but Letty likes the picture of them together. (full context)

...research projects. Robin and Letty are happy with their projects and advisors, but Ramy and Victoire aren’t. Victoire in particular is upset that her advisor wants to translate Kreyòl texts related... (full context)

In the middle of January, on their way to classes, Robin, Letty, Victoire, and Ramy see upperclassmen and graduate fellows wearing black under their robes. Someone tells them... (full context)

...listing fourth-year students who have passed or failed their exams. As Robin, Ramy, Letty, and Victoire watch, they think the public nature of the ceremony is cruel, but they also can’t... (full context)

...keeps looking for Griffin’s notes, but they never come. Meanwhile, as the end of Robin, Victoire, Ramy, and Letty’s third year approaches, they prepare for exams. If they fail any of... (full context)

As Robin, Victoire, Ramy, and Letty’s exams approach, their anxiety becomes increasingly overwhelming. One day, Robin goes to... (full context)

When Victoire leaves her exam, though, she’s upset. She explains to the cohort that she used a... (full context)

Every three years, University College (the part of Oxford to which Ramy, Robin, Victoire, and Letty belong) throws an extravagant ball. Letty pushes them all to go and says... (full context)

During the ball, Ramy, Robin, Victoire, and Letty stand together. Colin, who lives at Magpie Lane with Ramy and Robin, walks... (full context)

...Ramy go to see what is happening, they find Elton and his friends leering at Victoire and Letty while making lewd comments. Ramy takes Victoire and Letty away, while Robin faces... (full context)

...say either of those ideas to Letty, though. After the party, Robin, Ramy, Letty, and Victoire walk through a nearby graveyard. There, they find Evie Brooke’s grave. She died five years... (full context)

The summer that follows their third year exams is the best of Ramy, Robin, Victoire, and Letty’s lives. They enjoy long days together, and that time is a welcome respite... (full context)

...two figures clad in black approaching Babel. As they get closer, he sees that it’s Victoire and Ramy. He’s sure they must be there on Hermes Society business. He decides to... (full context)

...free. But as he gets them free, he becomes ensnared in the web. He asks Victoire and Ramy how they became involved in the Hermes Society and asks if Griffin recruited... (full context)

The morning after Robin freed Victoire and Ramy from the silver web, Robin wakes up and meets Ramy outside the house.... (full context)

...them to Canton. The trip will take six weeks. When they’re on board, Ramy and Victoire are terrified that they’ll be caught for their crimes at any moment. Robin wants to... (full context)

A week into the journey, Robin, Ramy, and Victoire finally find themselves alone. They initially talk over one another because they’re so eager to... (full context)

...keeping the secret. Robin thinks, but doesn’t say, that he was worried that Ramy and Victoire had more to lose if they joined the Hermes Society than he did, because he... (full context)

...She assures Robin that she’s here for him if he needs anything. Lovell tutors Letty, Victoire, and Ramy in Mandarin every afternoon with the idea that they’ll be able to navigate... (full context)

...name is Mr. Baylis. He shows Robin and Ramy to their lodgings. He then shows Victoire and Letty to their lodgings. He apologizes to Victoire and Letty that where they’re staying... (full context)

Robin returns to where he is staying and sits with Ramy, Letty, and Victoire. Out the window, they see a large fire. When they look closer, they realize that... (full context)

...them back to England. Ramy and Robin will stay with the sailors, while Letty and Victoire will share a room with another woman on board. As Ramy, Robin, Victoire, and Letty... (full context)

...chest bursts open, and he dies. Robin kneels at his side and says, “Father?” Ramy, Victoire, and Letty come into the room, saying that they heard yelling. Then, they see Lovell’s... (full context)

Robin is surprised that Victoire, Ramy, and Letty’s first instinct is to help him. Victoire explains that she and Ramy... (full context)

Victoire says they have to hide the body and make sure that no one thinks that... (full context)

...and avoid prison, or worse. Each time she proposes a plan, though, Robin, Ramy, and Victoire point out how unrealistic it is. (full context)

Robin, Victoire, Ramy, and Letty go to Professor Lovell’s home in Hampstead to stay the night. When... (full context)

...what he’s looking at. Robin says that they’re war plans and explains what he’s read. Victoire comes in not long after, and Ramy and Robin explain to her what they’ve found.... (full context)

...then walks into the room and asks what the Hermes Society is. Ramy, Robin, and Victoire begin to explain to her what it is, but Letty has trouble understanding why they... (full context)

Victoire adds that Babel sells silver bars to those who trade in enslaved people to help... (full context)

The next day becomes a series of mishaps. Robin, Victoire, Ramy, and Letty leave Hampstead early to get a train back to Oxford, but they... (full context)

When Friday comes, Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty go to the party, where they struggle to act normally. Professor Playfair remarks... (full context)

...later that night and invites Playfair to join them. Playfair agrees. Robin then finds Ramy, Victoire, and Letty. He says that Playfair is onto them, and they need to leave immediately.... (full context)

Anthony leads Robin, Victoire, Ramy, and Letty to the chapel. He then uses a passcode to open a secret... (full context)

...in league with Chinese lobbyists. In the article, there are sketches of Robin, Ramy, and Victoire, who are named as the perpetrators. Letty isn’t mentioned in the article. (full context)

The Hermes Society then continues to discuss their plans. Anthony tells Robin, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty that they shouldn’t leave the Old Library, lest they be caught. The rest... (full context)

...the door. Soon after, police officers flood into the room. Anthony tells Ramy, Robin, and Victoire to hide in the reading room. He (Anthony) and the three other members of the... (full context)

Letty tells Ramy, Robin, and Victoire to put their hands up. She says that the police have killed the other Hermes... (full context)

...he has about the Hermes Society. Robin says he won’t tell them anything. Robin hears Victoire screaming in the distance. Sterling tells Robin that if he doesn’t tell them what he... (full context)

...Robin is alone. He thinks of the future and can only think that Ramy and Victoire won’t be in it. He thinks that the Hermes Society has lost completely. He drifts... (full context)

Griffin tells Victoire to stand back from the door and uses gunpowder to blow it open. He says... (full context)

Robin and Victoire rush to Griffin, who is bleeding badly from his shoulder. He takes a silver bar... (full context)

Robin and Victoire run from Oxford. Robin suggests that they escape through the canal, but Victoire says that... (full context)

Victoire leads the way to the safehouse. When she and Robin arrive, they realize that Griffin... (full context)

Robin and Victoire then find a lamp equipped with a silver bar. They think the lamp must operate... (full context)

In the morning, Robin and Victoire go back to the Old Library. They know that it’s risky, but they want to... (full context)

When Robin and Victoire get inside Babel, Robin stands on a table. Several students and faculty members are in... (full context)

When someone says that England will call troops in to stop Robin and Victoire, Victoire says they won’t be able to because England needs Babel and its students to... (full context)

...to last about a week. Other than that, they have no food, and Robin and Victoire realize that they haven’t planned for everything. (full context)

...they sabotage those stronger bars in Babel, silver bars throughout the country will stop working. Victoire and Robin sabotage 24 of the stronger silver bars. Things begin to break down the... (full context)

The next morning, Victoire wakes Robin up and says that people are striking in London. The people striking are... (full context)

...barriers and barricades have been erected around the building. Professor Chakravarti then tells Robin and Victoire that there’s someone who wants to speak to them outside. When they go to the... (full context)

Meanwhile, the exiled scholars who fled when Robin and Victoire took over Babel have set up their own operation in London. They work to counteract... (full context)

Robin realizes that there’s an impending disaster and tells Victoire about it. The Westminster Bridge is scheduled for maintenance for its silver bars in a... (full context)

...strikers wants to think about what might happen, and they settle into a monotonous routine. Victoire helps Robin get through it, but she’s still furious with him because he advocated for... (full context)

Victoire and Robin talk about Letty and ask each other whether Letty would have turned on... (full context)

...they begin to shoot at the strikers every chance they get. A bullet barely misses Victoire. Abel sends some of his people to take positions in the tower to shoot at... (full context)

Robin and Victoire invite Letty into the tower, and she comes in alone. She says she is there... (full context)

After Letty leaves, Robin and Victoire talk over their options. They both agree that Letty is telling the truth and that... (full context)

...leave, they’ll have to run. Professor Craft and three others decide to stay with Robin. Victoire and one other person decide to leave. Robin and Victoire say goodbye to each other. (full context)

Victoire was born in Haiti in 1820. That year, King Henry Christophe feared a coup and... (full context)

Now, after leaving Babel, Victoire is on the run. She doesn’t know where she’s going, but she knows that there... (full context)

Babel

Victoire Character Analysis

Victoire Quotes in Babel

Chapter 3 Quotes

Chapter 6 Quotes

Chapter 8 Quotes

Chapter 13 Quotes

Chapter 20 Quotes

Chapter 24 Quotes

Interlude 2 Quotes

Chapter 26 Quotes

Victoire Character Timeline in Babel