Babylon+OPE+James

One Paragraph Essay:

Heading: James Kang (9E) Question: Do you think it was a good choice after all that John pushed forward anyway to go through the forbidden places although they were off limits? Title: Journey to the destruction of mankind

In the work By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Benét, John’s choice of advancing through the forbidden places to discover the truth and the past of “gods” was definitely not a good or thoughtful choice by John. As John returns from his journey to the Palace of Gods, modern-day New York, he returns with the knowledge of the past and the “gods”. Although his father is pleased with the success of John’s journey, he also acknowledges the future dangers behind John’s journey as he quotes “‘It was not idly that our fathers forbade the Dead Places’”. John’s father states that there was a logical reason why those areas were forbidden; because the discovery of the truth of those forbidden areas will eventually lead to another destruction. Thus, John’s choice of discovering the past and leading more people to it is an undeniable mistake as it will lead to the destruction of mankind once again. Another quotation explains that it was a poor choice by John to go to the forbidden places as he himself remarks “Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast”. Surprisingly, this quotation by John does not only refer to the people from the old days, but themselves, the Hill People. Isn’t knowing the truth of “gods” and the discovery of the past as well as electricity and machines and technology too much knowledge for them as well? Even more, John is guiding the people to the Dead Places where they will gain too much knowledge in such a short period of time. Furthermore, these knowledge will lead to even faster development and faster destruction. It is said that history repeats itself; won’t John’s immature choice lead to the history again?