'Do not shoot,' it shouted. 'I am a B-b-british object!'
These are Gemmy's, the main character's, first words. They immediately show him to be in a weaker position, begging whoever he has come across (in this case Lachlan) to not end his life. Moreover, looking at this from a post-colonial perspective, Gemmy's two sentences reveal two interesting facets to the debate of empire and colonialism. First, violence was widely used by European colonist as a method of subjugating and securing control over indigenous populations; here, we can infer that whoever is standing opposite Gemmy has a gun. Second, Gemmy is objectified, he is not seen as a person, but rather as a thing. Those who lived under colonial rule were referred to as 'British subjects', so Gemmy's slip of the tongue is revealing as it could point either to his youth and his confusion over the two terms, or, more sinisterly, to the mental impact of colonialism on the colonized. The fact that the narrator refers to Gemmy as 'it' and not 'he' reinforces the impression of Gemmy as a possession.
'A black! That was the boy's first thought. We're being raided by blacks.'
The 'boy' referred to in this quote is Lachlan. We see that he experiences a sense of pride and amazement at having come across 'a black'. Referring to the person by color alone is clearly a method of objectification, and also sets up the racial divide that continues throughout the rest of the novel. The verb 'raided' also points to Lachlan's fixation with displays of power. Though only a boy, it seems he is already looking forward to taking up arms against 'the blacks'.
Gemmy as an 'in-between creature'
Here, for the first time in the novel, the author points to the complex racial history of Australia. Over time, Aboriginal Australians, or Aborigines, have formed relationships with white Australians, the descendants of British and other colonists in the 18th and 19th centuries. These relationships have produced mixed-race children. Referring to Gemmy as an 'in-between creature', the author highlights how, although British by birth, Gemmy has been born and raised by Aborigines before setting out on his journey. No doubt anything or anybody that did not conform to the white stereotype would alienate or worry some people in the town he arrives in, which explains why some don't take to Gemmy as well as others, such as Jock McIvor, do.
'Could you lose it? Not just language but it. It.'
This quote reveals the fear that lies at the heart of the community at whose door Gemmy arrives. The repetition of 'it' - which arguably replaces skin color - shows that the community are too frightened to even consider anything other than whiteness. There is a sense of panic in their questioning, and near disbelief, that a mixed-race, black or Aboriginal child could not only exist but be like them - eat, sleep, think, and work. The same sort of fear is evident in Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' as Marlow travels down the River Congo; an interesting read to compare to 'Remembering Babylon'.
Gemmy as 'a true child of the place as it will one day be'.
This final description of Gemmy is an uplifting one. In what appears to be an explicit authorial intervention in the novel, Malouf hints at Australia's 21st century complex racial make up, and how racial discrimination is on its way out as tolerance becomes ever more widespread. Bear in mind that the novel is set 'in the middle of the nineteenth century' (page 1), so the reference to 'one day' is a hopeful and optimistic view to a more positive, tolerant and racially diverse future. The author's insertion of the adjective 'true' also begs the question: are those who spurned Gemmy and those who take his side 'true' Australians, or is the boy they consider racially inferior actually a truer Australian than they can ever be?
