By The Waters Of Babylon Analysis

Gilliane Balingit
Ms. Guidotti
English 9
30 October 2015

What Did John Learn?

In the story, “By The Waters of Babylon” by Stephen Vincent Benét conveys that truth should not be given all at once, but little by little. In the story, a brave man goes on a treacherous journey to the Dead Places and discovers the progress of humankind. Over the course of the hero journey that John takes, he gains knowledge about the truth of mankind and obtains information to change his life for the better.
John achieves understanding about the advancement in humanity and society. On his journey, he traveled to the Place of Gods where he discovered the evolution and growth of humankind. After discovering the new land, John saw all the new technology and innovations. After he builds a fire to cook in the fireplace, He thought that …show more content…
On John’s journey, he learned that the “Gods” are wise enough to get anything they want by the advancement in technology that they have learned. He wanted to proclaim the truth. After John shared the truth of human growth to his father when he came back from his journey, his father replied saying, “Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat too much truth at once, you may die of the truth” (9) John then realizes that the truth should be revealed gently because if mankind takes in too much insight of evolution, intelligence could ruin them. John begins contemplating that “in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast,” (9) he begins making an alteration. He wants to start a new life, building a new reality for all human existence and furthermore to come. He knew that the Dead Places were not from gods, “they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men.” (9) John sees a new a brighter future that they must build. He’s determined to make it better than the Dead Places, better than the place New York, he wants a better destiny, a better

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