Babel 17 and language

This week I read the science fiction novel “Babel 17” by Samuel R. Delany. It’s about a language invented through a war in space to find traitors and expose them. Later discovered by a very intelligent telepath named Rydra Wong, who accidentally becomes an enemy through learning it. The whole story centers around the mass idea of language and how dangerous it can really be. An entire war could’ve been completely won over within the wrong use of words and the person who says them. It’s an interesting metaphor because almost every problem politically throughout history has been due to the wrong choice of words and the manner they’re said. The entire novel really focuses on being particulate on what to say and being incredibly clear. The “code” of Babel 17 is extensive and sometimes hard to follow but that’s definitely intentional and creates this mind game for the reader where you have to go back and read the sentence multiple times to truly get a grasp on what the purpose of it was.

  We live in the “Make America Great Again” era where words are as detrimental as ever. Constant ridicule has never been shy from political fields, Nixon’s “I am not a crook” speech will forever go down in history just due to bad word choice alone. However, with the internet now, something as silly as George Bush pronouncing “nuclear” a funny way can lead to someone as serious as our president to a complete laughing stock. This has started a very PC culture, people constantly watch what they say to avoid offending others and making fools of themselves, queue “Look at my African American over here”. We live in a time where language can go both ways, safe and smart or brash and to the point. Both are incredibly subjective but both can also be used against each other. Babel 17 deals with the impact words can have on a mass scale and how easy they can affect someone. At a time when we as a country are being led by someone who can’t get off their twitter, it seriously couldn’t be more relevant.