By The Waters Of Babylon Themes

Authors of fiction writing must use many elements in order to create their stories. From personification to analogies, each and every element plays a crucial role in the foundation of their story and what the readers learn from it, but perhaps one of the most important elements in all of fiction writing is theme. Authors of fiction use theme in order to teach readers a lesson about something they believe the audience should know. In the short story “By The Waters of Babylon” evidence suggests the author’s theme teaches readers that there is a price to pay in order to gain knowledge.
The first bit of evidence that suggests a price must be paid in order to gain knowledge comes when the main character, John, begins his journey to become a priest. …show more content…
Upon entering the place of the gods John states that “I went north—I did not try to hide myself. When a god or a demon saw me, then I would die” (Benét 5). This is very substantial because John is willing to pay the ultimate price in order to feed his curiosity for knowledge. He is willing to lay down his life just to gain knowledge of who the gods are and how they lived. When John is fortunate enough to escape a pack of wild dogs that attack him it becomes evident there is another price to be paid for knowledge. By going to this unknown place of the gods, John is willing to face many unknowns that could threaten his …show more content…
There are many times in our own lives where there is a price to be paid in order to gain knowledge about something. Take college as an example. There are many prices we must pay in order to achieve our ultimate goal of obtaining a degree. Countless hours are spent on classwork, studying, and researching new concepts. Sleep is sometimes lost as we cram for a big test the next day, and thousands of dollars are invested over the period of four years. All of these are prices that we must pay in order to gain knowledge. Although it may seem like a negative consequence at the time, these costs are actually very beneficial to our futures. The knowledge we obtain during college allows for a much brighter future for not only ourselves, but also for the world; therefore, knowledge is worth the price that we must pay. Similarly, in “By The Waters of Babylon” the price John must pay in order to gain knowledge of the god place is worth his sacrifices. The knowledge John gains through his journey to the gods place allows him to change his society. After John describes to his father what he has seen in the god place, he states “perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast” (Benét 8). John now understands why the gods destroyed themselves, and he can apply his knowledge to prevent a similar outcome for his