Analysis Of By The Waters Of Babylon

In the story “By the Waters Of Babylon” the main Character John needs to go on a journey to find himself and become a priest. On this journey he isn't supposed to go to the Place Of The Gods but he still ends up going . In my opinion he is a hard-headed person but then again he is also audacious. He was just supposed to take a journey and was told that the “Place Of The Gods” is forbidden but he ends up still going there. This situation also shows that he’s audacious because he goes to a place that is forbidden, and if no one goes there it's because it's dangerous . He still goes since he didn't want to have that one regret in his life.

The theme in this story is clearly the “coming of age journey”. In the story he needed to go on a journey

Which is about the israelite people and the destruction of Jerusalem from the hands of the Babylonians, and how the people of israel were taken into captivity. This connects to the story because in the story in both events a great civilization was destroyed. When John gets to New York he stands on top of a all building and looks down to the remains of the civilization, almost like what the people of israel did, they looked down “by they waters of the great babylonians “ and looked at their

The point .of view is First Person , clearly the person telling the story is John. He uses “i” and “we” a lot throughout the story. For example, in the third paragraph it says “My father is a priest; I am the son of a priest. I have been in the Dead Places near us, with my father—at first, I was afraid”. Here he is talking how he is a son of a priest by using the words “i” and “my”. As you can see this story told in First Person Point Of View. They setting takes place in a New York and it is basically telling us that in a few years our civilization is going to be destroyed. The story was told in New York ( The Place Of The Gods because New York is where everyone that doesn't live in New York looks at it and says thats the first place they wanna go to when they get to the US. WHat they see on T.v and social media reflects on their view towards New York.

The conflict in “By the Waters Of Babylon” is Man vs Self. He has a strong desire to go to the Place Of The Gods but he isn't supposed to go because he isnt aloud. He wants to go because he knows if he doesn't go he will stick with that regret for the rest of his life. In the story it says ”All these things are forbidden," I said, but it was my voice that spoke and not my spirit. He looked at me again” this shows that he said something but what his lips said did not match what his heart