By The Waters Of Babylon Summary

By The Waters Of Babylon is a story that for the audience can be very confusing at first and, it shows no signs of direct guidance towards where the story is heading but, as it continues we seem to notice that the main character, John who is the son of a priest, seems to find himself in a estranged place where we later find out is what will apparently be the future of New York City. The theme of ‘By The Waters Of Babylon’ is taking knowledge for granted which throughout the story we get hints like signs saying ‘ASHING’ and the name John gives the street like ‘god roads’ that later, we find out was signs from the past New York City and, John believes that all the knowledge the past generation (currently) gained was taken for granted and we let all of it end up destroying us. In the Story, John states “Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast.” Moreover, John the main character as stated before is the son of a priest which was recently turned into a priest when his father, also named John and a priest as well, takes him to the Dead Places to make him follow through a ritual of touching the metal. Throughout the story John has showed a significant amount of courage and

As the journey went on alike to John we experience what it felt like to be in an unfamiliar place and, slowly discovering what could have happened to that past generation. From having the first person point of view we also have knowledge of the emotions that John feels throughout the story. For example, there was a moment where John doubted going to the ‘place of the gods’ and in the text states “If I went to the place of the gods, I would surely die, if I did not go, I could never be at peace with my spirit again.” This shows how with this Point of view chosen by the author the audience gets to live more through the difficult decisions John had to