Essay Questions

What is the irony of the priests in the By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benet?

As the story commences, the reader is introduced to the powerful priests in the primitive society. The priests are feared by everyone because they are the only ones together with their sons that can visit the Dead Places. However, towards the end of the story John discovers that society has just been blinded to think that the priests are powerful but in reality, they are not. Satirically, the shrewdest and sturdiest priests in the post-apocalyptical society are those born and raised in the privileged families.

Why is the author depicting John as the bravest and wisest priest in the book By the Waters of Babylon?

John is the protagonist of the story and he is portrayed as someone who is thirsty for knowledge. He is courageous and willing to explore the unknown so that he can flourish his understanding. The story is from John's perspective and it starts with him giving a description of his village. The reader realizes that John is always inquisitive and he asks his father several questions so that he can understand the things he is not familiar with. When John becomes a priest, he is courageous enough to travel to Dead Place and he discovers that the primitive society fears the priests due to lack of knowledge. Therefore, John emerges as the wisest and strongest priest because he is not afraid of anything.

What is the symbolic meaning of John’s death-defying hallucination?

The author depicts John’s death-defying dream as a motif. When John shares his dream with his father, he is discouraged by him that his ending is not going to be a good one. However, John defies his father’s predictions and goes ahead to follow his dream. The symbolic meaning of John's dream is that it represents his new beginning and a better life. At last, John achieves his goals by following his dream and disapproves of his father's prediction of a bad ending.