What's your analysis of the alias 'Babel'?
HI I ONLY JUST SAW THIS ASK TODAY
Okay so The Story of Babel, for people who don't know, is in Genesis 11:1-9 and explains the story why people speak different languages and have different cultures. The story of Babel is widely agreed to be about the both horrible and wonderful things humanity can do when unified, and it's also a lesson about the sin of Pride.
In the Drama, it's implied that both Near and Mello do work under the name of Babel, not just Near. We see Mello with them in their first four scenes, they even ask him questions about the cases ("Who's Kira?"). This, to me, shows that Babel is both of them, not just Near acting alone. Babel is derived from the root meaning "to confuse", which makes sense as when Babel first appears, they are presented as an enemy and not an ally. Actually, Babel is differentiated from Near very fast by L, ("I forgot to mention, but Babel is actually an acquaintance of mine. [...] Though Watari and I call them Near.") He refers to Babel as an acquaintance despite it showing us that L and Near are relatively close in this adaptation. This could be because he's trying to protect their status as his successor infront of Light, but this doesn't seem in character considering the after-death videos he made where he reveals very casually that Near is his successor. If anything, it seems like he's trying to say, that while Near is Babel, Near and Babel do different things and act in different ways. So Mello is also Babel! However, why is this relevant? Well, in the Story of Babel, when humanity tries to build a tower into Heaven, God separates them into different areas of the world and confuses their speech. Making them all have different languages, this makes communication and co-operation very difficult to ensure that they won't try something like that again. Babel implies multiple voices simultaneously, trying to co-operate unsuccessfully. We do see this with Near and Mello, because while (if my theory is correct) both of them are the detective Babel, Near is consistently trying to repress Mello. It's even seen with L, (*in response to Mello* "Shut up! Listen to me, don't get in Near's way.") Who uses more aggressive language when talking to Mello (だまれ (Damare), a very impolite way of telling someone to shut up). Which, ironically, L is more aggressive to Mello than Mello is to him (うるさい (Urusai), which is still aggressive but less so.). So yes, Babel shows multiple voices who don't know how to communicate. When Mello and Near finally begin to genuinely co-operate with one another, Mello's faked take over, the Alias of Babel is shed, showing they can actually understand one another for once.
Another little thing I noticed, The Story is said to be about the sin of Pride, and what it does. In the Drama, Light is not greedy, not lustful, obviously cares about not wasting what his family has in the house, so not gluttonous either. After becoming Kira, Light's always very motivated, so he's not slothful, the only one you can really argue for is Wrath. But, one thing stays consistent, Light is prideful. He takes pride in what he does, this is part of his downfall in every adaptation. How ironic, the story of Babel is about how Pride leads to failure, and the Prideful Kira is taken down by Near and Mello A.K.A Babel!
Was any of this relevant to the actual question? I dunno but I sure love to talk