By The Waters Of Babylon Theme

In the short story “By the Waters of Babylon”, by Stephen Vincent Benét is a about a priest’s son who goes on a journey to find the truth about the Dead Places which is discovered as the ruins of New York City destroyed by the “gods”. The major theme of this short story is knowledge and it perceives it as knowledge without wisdom is nothing. John’s character reveals his desire to find the truth and have more knowledge on his journey when he says, “It is better than to lose one’s life than one’s spirit”. This shows that it is better to die trying to find the truth than to not try and to be left questioning which connects to the theme of knowledge because with truth there comes knowledge. Through John’s journey the theme of knowledge can be