Babylon+OPE+Jenny+K.

Heading: Jenny Kim F block

Question: Why were the real people from history (Washington, Lincoln, etc.) known as gods in John’s society?

Title: Actual God or Just Man.


 * The unknown information about the gods and the “Place of Gods” in //By the Waters of Babylon//, by Stephen Vincent Benét, made people from John’s society believe that people from history were gods.** In the story, because New York City was forbidden, people could not, was not brave enough to, go there and examine if they were gods or not. John’s father said “It is forbidden to travel east. It is forbidden to cross the river. It is forbidden to go to the Place of the Gods. (paragraph 15)” Also, it is said “The towers are not all broken—here and there one still stands, ... But the towers themselves look blind, (paragraph 43)” If you were forbidden to go to the “Place of Gods”, how were you suppose to know if it was actually the “Place of Gods”? This question for the first quote reveals that people in John’s society had to believe that Washington, Lincoln, etc. were gods. In the second quote, it is said that most of the buildings were ruined. Even when John arrived there, he was unable to read the names, like reading Washington as ASHING. And also because the statues would look like gods to John, the real people from history were known as gods. But because John found informations about gods and the place, people should then realize that people from the history are not the gods.