'Truth In By The Waters Of Babylon'

One might wonder, what is the difference between knowledge and truth? In the story, “By the Waters of Babylon”, John, the narrator, is on a quest for knowledge and discovers unexpected truths that change his beliefs. The knowledge that he gathers makes him feel satisfied because he has a burning passion for it. On the other hand, the truth that he uncovers makes him unsure about how his society will take it. Along the way, John realizes that truth is a requirement for obtaining knowledge and that you can’t have one without the other. In the beginning of the story, we learn that knowledge is very important to John and the society that he is in. Knowledge truly makes him joyful and all he wants to do is acquire more. The story says “My knowledge

This can be seen when the story says “That is all of my story....they had been men, neither gods nor demons. It is great knowledge, hard to tell and believe,” (Benét 321).

In the story, John says “Truth is a hard deer to hunt….you may die of the truth,” (Benét 321). After learning this new information, he comes to the realization that it will be hard for him to reveal this truth to his society and it will be hard for the people to accept and understand. When unsure about how to release this information to his society he consults his father and he tells him to be very careful about it and to not release the truth all at once. The story says “He was right-it is better that truth should come little by little,” (Benét 321).

By the end of the story, “By the Waters of Babylon”, John, the narrator, completes his quest to obtain more knowledge and he uncovers truths he would have never anticipated which cause him to question his pre-existing knowledge. During this expedition John goes on, he learns the relationship between knowledge and truth and how they are similar and different. John grasps the concept that knowing the truth is necessary for retrieving knowledge and that you can not have knowledge without having