By the Waters of Babylon

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By the Waters of Babylon

By the Waters of Babylon” is a fantasy title taken from Psalm 137 in the Bible. The Psalm tells of the Israelites’ great sorrow over the destruction of their temple in Jerusalem (Zion) and the enslavement of Babylon. The Psalm opens “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remember Zion.”
Steven Vincent Benet, a Spanish writer, that remembers the destruction and the reconstruction after a war, wrote this story with the purpose of warning the human race. This story was written in the midst of World War II, when Nazi Germany, the Italian and Japanese Government were bent on worldwide conquest. Since it was written before the invention of nuclear weapons, we can only guess that the demise of civilization occurred as a result of some type of chemical or biological usage in warfare.
In his vision, he saw how civilization was to change in comparison to the twentieth century. The new culture is a culture of innocence and renewal, since people have returned to the simple ways of long ago. The economy is underdeveloped and the technology that existed from the past. The people of this new culture have no idea how to used or make-work. In the story, John of the Hill People is on a quest. This quest he is reaching for knowledge of the gods
The same time he is hoping to discover the spiritual aspect of it is self that will help him understand the role he is called upon to take when it is his turn to help his people. Many times during his quest like any human his feeling will show in a form of happiness and optimism. The fear is shown on his verse of the dead “Now I go to the place of the gods, I shall not return. My body is painted for death, and my limbs are weak”, but this fear will give him strength to continue on his quest. In this narrative the author Benet includes many descriptions that make this story vivid and real, the statement made by John, “It should have b...