What does Letty represent?

Throughout the novel, Letty becomes a personification of British apathy and unwillingness to see the suffering of others. While countless other characters have been shown to be racist or unwilling to see the suffering of others, Letty is special because she has a close connection to three foreign scholars. In theory, she should have been one of their strongest allies, aware of all of their suffering and sympathetic to their cause. Instead, Letty’s selfishness and flawed belief in her people just proves what the other characters have been trying to tell her: a privileged person will never do the right thing out of sympathy alone.