By The Waters Of Babylon Sparknotes

By the Waters of Babylon was written by Stephen Vincent Benet and it introduces a world where humans had destroyed civilization as we know it. Humans created extremely powerful weapons that could erase the planet. However, those weapons were used in war and destroyed the modern world. It caused people to live in the forest and hills rather than a city. The book takes place in the future explaining the aftermath of a damaging war. The Hill is where John lived, and it was west from New York. They lived as if they were in the past. People had knowledge of fire and many other tricks, but there technology wasn’t as modern as it was before the war. One example of this is John walking all those miles to New York city and to the dead places.

If technology would have been on the same level as it was John could have gone to New York in a few hours instead of days. Since John was able to walk all those miles it is easy to tell that the story takes place during the summer or spring. To make those trips the weather would have to be cooperative and not too cold.

John is a priest in training while his dad already is a priest.

The story revolves around John and his journey to New York, which is considered god’s land. John being curious just had to see what lies beyond the river. Considering that John is the first of his people to go east that tells us that his curious nature is what makes him daring. This makes John is developing character. Learning that the gods he worshiped were actually human and getting to see New York made him even more curious. Throughout the story he would get ideas of how he wanted to change society or approach any situation a different way. For example, instead of fighting the dogs he hid inside a god’s house until morning, and when he got back to the hill he wanted to rebuild the lost

civilization

John’s curiosity towards the gods is what started the whole story.

It was made clear that he would travel east to gain more information. The great river that John had crossed to get to New York was the Hudson river. In the title it says,”By the River of Babylon.” What this is translating into is that John lived in a city like Babylon. Babylon was a kingdom that relied on the river for its survival. After arriving to the demolished city of New York, John took a look around. He noticed lavished materials that he had no idea how to use or what they did. The story would reach its climax when he found out that the gods were actually humans. In the end we would see John’s plans for the future to try and rebuild the lost civilization.

The narrator is John and we didn’t know his name until he sang a song about himself. We know what he thinks and what are his ideas. In the story it says,”When my father went into the house to search for the metal, I stood by the door, and my heart felt small and weak.” Understanding the feelings he felt then proves that it is first person point of view. First point of view means we will get to hear his ideas and feelings and see the world through his

eyes.

Questioning what civilization tells us is what the author wants us to learn. The author wants people to gain wisdom by going out their and finding out for ourselves. This was exactly what John had done when he went to seek the gods. John did not question the existence of gods but rather how they looked like and how they lived. Little did John know that he will discover that the gods were just humans and that information would better his understanding of his world.

There are 2 conflicts in the story. One is for John and the other one is for the reader. John’s conflict is human vs. himself. As he is going on a self journey and denying the rules. Even though he knows that he might die in the journey. John is going against himself to satisfied his curiosity. The conflict for the reader is human vs society. The reader is now thinking about how to prevent such a fate for his or her own civilization. The reader now understands what lies ahead if the world continues on the path it does so. The problem is now for the reader to solve his or her own way.

John would go through the city being all curious. He will look around and touch unidentified objects he can find. The best word to describe John’s tone is curious. He would act curious almost all the time. How the story was laid out the mood was also curious. The reader did not know where was the city and what time period the story took place until they read a little more. Both the reader and John are curious but for different reasons. John knew where he was and where he was going but the reader did not. The reader knew where John was, who were the gods, and what were those unidentified objects. They are both curious but for different reasons.