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<title> Home essay on Remembering Babylon by David Malouf: Janet. </title>
The charactarisation of Janet, like all the characters in the book, is subtle and fragmentary. The author lets us see her from a distance almost, but even so it is the inside, not the surface of Janet that is being revealed. When Janet is first introduced she is roughly twelve years old, and initially she is described mostly in comparison with her cousin, Lachlan, who is in many ways her opposite, but also competes with her for attention. Gradually she grows apart from him and discovers herself also through other people. The times of self discoveries are described as moments in Janet's life that somehow transform her, and peel a layer off of her character. 
	 One of Janet's gifts in life is her seeing. She is not limited by the surface of people, but always wants to know what their inside is like. One of the first descriptions of this is when Gemmy and Janet are playing together: "[...]an odd feeling would come over him that she was trying to see right into him, to catch his spirit[...]"1 With this quote the author makes it clear that her ability to see is connected to her searching for the spirit of things. Intertwined with her introspective side is a longing for somethingelse, a more satisfying life than what she has in the settlement. (This is a characteristic that she seems to share with all the other main characters of the book). For Janet, the longing starts with the stories of her parents' native Scotland and develops into an inner longing for her true spirit. 
	 A moment of transformation is when Janet gets a glimpse of her own spirit as she lifts the hard crust of a scab on her knee, and discovers the underlying pink skin. This convinces her that there must be a "finer being" inside of her, which ought to be called Flora, not plain Janet. Her experience is enhanced by the world around her that now appears to be transparent and made of glass. This metafor of boundary against transparancy is one that the author uses frequently in the characterization of Janet. On her path of growth she experiences another moment of self discovery, which is to be the most important by her own account. Janet and her mother are standing in the moonligt outside the house looking for her father and Gemmy who have been abruptly woken up by hostile neighbours. There is a silent recognition of thoughts between mother and daughter and this time Janet grasps the spirit of her mother, maybe for the first time, as she is standing in her nightgown made transparent by the moonlight, showing the bulky body inside. Janet gets a feeling of connection with her mother, which enables her to find herself: "I am the one who is seeing this", she thinks.2 
	 Janet eventually meets Mrs Hutchence, who teaches her about bee keeping. The old lady has a strong effect upon Janet, maybe because they are both of the "seeing" kind. The effect she has on Janet's spiritual growth is subtly conveyed by the author. He lets Janet ponder about the fact that time seems to go at a slower pace in Mrs Hutchence's presence, allowing her to see and understand things: "Withhout it she did not know how she would ever have discovered certain things or believed they existed."3 This is the authors almost mystical or secretive way of describing Janet's religious awakening. Her faith is being put to the test one day while she is tending the bees and suddenly finds herself covered with them. By trusting in what Mrs Hutchence has told her about bees only stinging when they are hungry, and remaining perfectly still she manages the situation without being hurt. As the bees leave her body she feels like a reborn person, who has for a moment been given insight into the "single mind" of the bee swarm and the "mystery of things". 
	 Years later we meet Janet again, and the transformation of her becoming a nun, sister Monica, has already taken place a long time ago. She is remembering her life and the moments that influenced her to become what she now is. The authour is taking us back to the beginning of the story, when Janet and the other children first saw Gemmy balancing on the fence. As an old woman she sees the situation again, and finds that it was love that brought him to them. As a reader you get the understanding that she interprets their encounter with Gemmy now in a Christian light, him being sent to them by God. This understanding comes simply by the introduction of the word love and the fact that she is speaking as a nun. The reader realizes that Gemmy has played a significant role in her life, although it seems as if the experience belongs only to her, and can't be fully seen by us. The initial feeling that the author never really lets us see her is strong also at the end of the story, but knowing her character now leaves you wondering if there is more, if only we could see it the way Janet does. 
	 The author has described Janet's inner transformation almost as a complement to Gemmy's search for a better life. There is a connection between Janet and Gemmy, but never in an obvious way for the reader. Together with Lachlan and Gemmy she is portrayed as the main character, and we get glimpses of her personality sometimes only through a word, or a short sentence. This also relates to the way we, and the people of the settlement, become aquainted to Gemmy. Revealing so little about his characters, they become hazy and almost as if viewed from a distance. This intention from the author's side contrasts with Janet's wish to see everything so clearly, that in the end she studies bees through glass hives. Again it is obvious that she is the one that sees things clearly, not necessarily the reader.
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