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The Main Themes In 'By The Waters Of Babylon'

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Recommended: Theme of isolation in literature

This complex story revolves around the idea of finding yourself and breaking free of certain limits that are set for you from the very start. The main character in the story is shown to be traveling to a forbidden area to gain new knowledge while along the way breaking taboos and superstitions his tribe created. It is solely based on a journey regarding curiosity and discovery. The protagonist and main character in this short story is John, a young male who becomes a priest after his father takes him to the Dead Places and makes him touch the metal. John starts to have dreams about seeing a “river, and, beyond it, a great Dead Place and in it the Gods walking.” John believes that he is given a sign through the dreams to visit the “Place of Gods”. He is passionate when it comes to the Gods, he loves to hear stories about them during the ancient times. John is a very hard-headed and ambitious character, his persistence is the only factor that makes him continue his long and tiring journey. John at the start of his journey feels very unsure of whether he should head East. He rests for awhile to wait for more signs. In the story, he says “my body hurt but not my heart”. …show more content…

In fact, this story takes place in the future where war caused the impact of isolation. This story’s setting takes place after “The Great Burning”. The Great Buring is described as a nuclear war attack with words such as “fire coming from the sky”. Cities full of people no longer exists, and the entire country is back to becoming tribes. No modern transportation is no longer available and the only way to travel is with the foot. John travels East and during his journey sees the Hudson River, and the Grand Central Terminal. John describes the terminal as a mighty temple because it had stars drawn on it. Also, it is believed that John’s tribe resides in modern-day

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The journey often consists of many different stages involving the ordinary world is the background of the heroes and describes the personal history of the character or the Life, Light, Conscious world symbolizing the stability of each character. The next step of the cycle is the call to Adventure which may begin when outside forces cause increased pressures it may rise up from deep within the character and the hero must begin facing the new changes to himself both mentally and spiritually. Next, the hero’s may refuse the call to be the hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the journey but for only a small amount of time, which may express the unexpected dangers and uncertainty lying ahead of him. Then, the meeting with the mentor/guide is someone with previous

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But I will cut off my hand before I’ll ever reach for you again” (22). He deeply regrets everything he has done and still suffers with being censured by himself. John trying to figure out if he’s still a good person of not states, “But I wilted, and like a christian, I confessed! Confessed! Some dream I had must have mistaken you for God that day.

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The interpretation of the theme – truth in “By the Waters of Babylon” In the short story “By the Waters of Babylon” the author Stephen Vincent Benét conveys the theme, “truth is a hard deer to hunt, if you eat too much of it at once, you may die of the truth” (Benét, 255). Which is a hyperbolic metaphor that means truth is like knowledge, hard to find. So, if too much of it is eaten at once, death is likely; as in truth is dangerous and hard to regulate among people if it is boundless. When the protagonist John was tired after travelling to the forbidden Place of Gods seeking knowledge, he fell asleep in one of the big dead-houses.

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This shows that John is a merciful being and desires forgiveness from his wife and God, therefore demonstrating traits of a good man. Furthermore, John has a heated argument with his wife, due to his encounter with Abigail, alone. Although, he thinks his wife will doubt him, she states on the contrary, “I do not judge you. The magistrate sits in your heart that judges you. I never thought you but a good man, John - only somewhat bewildered” (55).

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