The ultimate goal of translation is to make readers think that they’re reading the original piece, right? Wrong. 
 
Translating is one of human’s most powerful tools for overcoming differences. It bridges the barrier of language, but its implications lie far beyond simply converting words and characters. The meaning it carries encompasses the nuances and subtleties of entire cultures, worlds, and people. Thus, it can be problematic if we ignore the fundamental reason why translation matters in the first place: to overcome differences, all the while preserving them. 
 
Translation is ethical just as it is technical. This is especially evident when traits particular to one group are replaced by terms more comfortable to the reader. Scholars even argue that it can be considered an act of xenophobic origin when traces of a particular culture is being overly erased through translation for the sake of familiarizing the text to readers. 
 
Translation brings people out of our reach, alive and breathing, in front of us—and we, as readers, have the responsibility to at least look them in the eye, to create a conscious effort to recognize them as who they truly are: different.