Did you know “it is strictly forbidden to cross the river and look upon the place of the gods”-By The Waters Of Babylon. Stephen Vincent Benet wrote “By The Waters Of Babylon”. He introduces the priest and the son of the priest John. In “The Waters Of Babylon” there was a quest to be fulfilled, but no one was brave enough to fulfill that. John felt an internal passion to go on the quest. So at the end he gained knowledge that everyone was afraid of. The author “By The Waters Of Babylon” uses modern society as textual symbols which are spirits and demons, deer, and a door with a broken lock. In “By The Waters Of Babylon” here were spirits and demons as symbols to create the theme. Spirits and demons are a symbolized modern element…show more content… Erika Wang Mitrevski ENG4U1 March 9, 2015 State the topic question you are answering for this condensed essay outline: How does the author depict humanity’s destructive nature? Theme Statements: The thirst for knowledge is inevitable in human nature. Harnessing Statements: The short story “By the Waters of Babylon” explores the idea of a post-apocalyptic world where the advancement of technology leads an entire city to extermination. As a result, the consequences of mankind’s mistakes determines the outcome of the future. Thesis Statement: Stephen Vincent Benét’s “By the Waters of Babylon” uses the rise and fall of civilization to demonstrates the destructiveness of mankind. BODY PARAGRAPH 1 Topic Sentence: The desire for knowledge puts man on an endless pursuit to satisfy their curiosity. Paraphrase/Quotation: Essentially, one may never be satisfied no matter the abundance of knowledge he holds. John’s “knowledge and lack of knowledge burned in [him]” (Benét 1). Analysis of Evidence: Living in a society where there is little understanding of the world and a man with curiosity, John goes on a journey hoping to attain more knowledge. Men can be blinded by their goals and ambitions that they do not think about the consequences of their actions. The knowledge that people in the past have attained allowed them to be intelligent and prosperous. Man’s arrogance ultimately leads them to destroying humanity. Paraphrase/Quotation: Knowledge equips us with strength and
"By the Waters of Babylon" is a story built around several major and intersecting transformations. The first change readers can explore is the transformation associated with John's journey to the Place of the Gods, which is modern-day Manhattan, New York. This is a gradual change, happening over a long period. John's ritual quest, a coming of age from boyhood to manhood, marks the transformation. John's ability to gain knowledge and, most importantly, survive on this journey proves that he has entered adulthood and can move on to the next stage of his life, becoming a priest. John's vision during the night he spends in The Place of the Gods depicts the second significant change. In the vision, he witnesses a typical day in the gods' lives. Suddenly, fire and a mist destroy the city in the Great Burning. The destruction is swift, and the gods had no time to prepare. A bustling city instantly becomes a charnel house. Here, Benét warns the reader that the errors of human ways can change the course of the lives of a society instantly and without warning. The third change that Benét addresses is in how John views the people who used to live in the Dead Places. Before visiting the Place of the Gods, John thought of the people who once inhabited them as spirits, demons, and gods. Now, after seeing the place and learning more, he realizes what he thought were gods were really just men. This new knowledge generates a final change. Now the tribe will move away from avoiding the Dead Places and instead visit them to learn about the lost world. Through this learning they will know how to rebuild civilization. In all examples, Benét sends the message that humans evoke change, for better or for worse. KnowledgeStephen Vincent Benét explores the theme of knowledge as an avenue for enlightenment and discovery. With knowledge, humans can move forward and rebuild what was lost. John's forbidden journey east to the Place of the Gods is a quest for knowledge. His curiosity leads him there, and with every encounter, he gains new knowledge. For example, upon setting foot on the shore of the Place of the Gods, he meets with the new knowledge that the ground is not hot to the touch. He sees that grasses grow through the cracks in the broken god-roads, and he concludes that the Place of the Gods is not as dangerous as his tribe was led to believe. As he explores the Place of the Gods further, he is enlightened by visions and encounters that help him understand that his purpose, as well as man's, is to rebuild civilization. Benét also explores how knowledge dissolves fear. When John first arrives in the Place of the Gods, he has great fear. He explores towers, has his vision, and encounters the dead god, and each of the experiences fills him with new knowledge. He leaves the city fearless and with new understanding. Benét's theme of knowledge is also cautionary. He brings up the problems that having too much knowledge can create. The priests are the keepers of knowledge in the Hill People's tribe. They interpret the signs of the natural world, and they have, or at least the narrator has, access to secret knowledge through visions. In addition, they may have retained knowledge no longer useful. The ground may have once been too hot to touch, but it has cooled. The people seemed masterful or godlike, but, in death, their humanity seems obvious. In this sense, knowledge can be partial and imperfect when it comes with a particular perspective or bias. At the end of the story, the priests commit to studying and recovering the knowledge of the gods. They also take responsibility for sharing this knowledge with their people at a controlled and rational pace. This sets them apart from the gods, who accumulated knowledge too quickly and applied it without judgment. Death and Destruction"By the Waters of Babylon" deals with witnessing mass death and coming to terms with it. The massive obliteration of the Spanish village of Guernica inspired Stephen Vincent Benét's story, and the work is one of several period stories that seem to anticipate the massive bombings of World War II and the threat of nuclear war. The people of John's tribe call cities destroyed by the Great Burning "Dead Places," and the priests find that the deaths caused by catastrophic event linger in the pavement. The narrator's pivotal vision climaxes with that Great Burning, in which the inhabitants of Manhattan die. Managing death is also important in another way: early in the story, the narrator confirms the truth of his vision by killing a panther who is about to kill a young deer. Thus, death has natural and manmade causes. Death can get out of hand, and death can be more devastating than intended or comprehendible. Benét was familiar with the tactics of World War I, which introduced new methods of mass killing—mustard gas, air strikes, bombings, and civilian death. The juxtaposition to natural death and the cycle of life (the weeds returning; the panther hunting) provides a contrast between acceptable, humane, or natural death and unacceptable, inhumane, or manufactured death. Humans interrupt the natural cycle over and over again—even to John's day when he stops the panther from killing the deer. Still, man makes the mistake of trying to master death.
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What is one theme about truth that benét develops in “by the waters of babylon”?
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