Comparing 'By The Waters Of Babylon And Planet Of The Apes'

Establishing a comparison between a book and a movie can cause people’s views and opinions to change drastically. The short story, “By the Waters of Babylon,” by Stephen Vincent Benét, is very similar to the movie, Planet of the Apes, making the reader or viewer develop a new perspective on both. In the short story, a priest named John, travels to the forbidden east zone, where he has an out of body experience that completely changes his outlook on life. He discovers that the “gods” he believes in are, in fact, people who destroyed the world due to their excess knowledge, and lack of wisdom. Similarly, the protagonist in Planet of the Apes, Taylor, travels forward in time, only to end up on a planet which is controlled by apes. He then discovers that he has actually been on
The movie and the story both have a similar setting, display the regression of mankind, and portray similar themes, all helping the reader understand that wisdom is just as important as knowledge, and is absolutely necessary for survival. The setting in the movie, and the story, is very similar. Firstly, both stories take place in a forbidden east zone, where nothing can grow due to the ground being “poisonous.” In the story, John’s “heart was troubled about going east, yet [he] knew that [he] must go,” so he goes against his beliefs and religion. John heads east, where the ground is radioactive, and, therefore, is not suitable for life. Similarly, the eastern zone which Taylor explores in the movie, is called the “forbidden zone.” This area is also unable to uphold life. Next, both the story and the movie take place in New York. This is first shown in the movie when Taylor comes across the Statue of Liberty, washed up on the shore. He realizes that humans have destroyed the world, causing apes to rule it. In like manner,