The last decade has brought increased visibility for translators. Though the number of books published in English translation is no greater and reviews of translation still seldom give full attention tot the translator, with the growth of information technology and of Translation Studies as a discipline, academic translators have gained in 'usefulness'. Also, recent world events have prompted a heightened awareness of the need for qualified translators and interpreters. But are translators fully aware of, or prepared for, the responsibility and the multiple possibilities for conflict that such visibility entails? The author thinks that they are not, or at least some are not, to judge form the defensive natures of their response to reviews of their work, or from comments about the appropriateness of translators engaging in political activities that might seem to contradict the conventional metaphor of translation as a bridge. Translators seem disinclined to discuss the this lack of preparedness, focusing their efforts, albeit to some degree understandably, more on their rights than their responsibilities So this is a discussion of the ways in which translators are currently being called to account for their work, ways in which they are being drawn into unanticipated conflicts. In this article the author refers to several incidents from her own work experience as a translator. She also discusses the case of several fictional translators, for example, Dr. Pereira, the protagonist of Antonio Tabucchi's Pereira Declares. An invisible Portuguese translator, Pereira suddenly finds himself conscious in a new way of the events occurring in the world around him. Consciousness here is inseparable form conscience, as both Pereira and the reader are led to realize; and Tabucchi's novel can serve as an excellent point of departure for a discussion of the responsibilities and accountability that translators today must assume.