Truth as an the inevitable attributes of human nature. Based on Stephen Vincent Benets By the Waters of Babylon - Essay Example

Lying, Path the Truth, and "By the Waters of Babylon The paper seeks to unfurl one of the inevitable attributes of human nature which is truth. Truth is revealed passing through the backdrop of Stephen Vincent Benet’s short story, “By the Waters of Babylon” written at a juncture when the world was trembled through the destructive event of holocaust which took away thousands of lives . The then atmosphere was enclosed within a shield of irrationality and superstition. People dared to push beyond the limits and explore the reality. The protagonist in the story, John who is a son of priest sets out his journey to the so called forbidden place of god, demons and evils. He was certain about his death but his zeal to explore the truth and to quench his thirst with the knowledge of reality took him all the way and finally leads to the realization of the legitimacy of that forbidden place. The paper ultimately finds a way to answer the question that is an absolute necessity for the establishment of ultimate harmony among the people and exposits whether it should be injected in one big push or permeated in bits and parts. 2. Introduction Published in 1937, the novel, By the Waters of Babylon written by Stephen Vincent Benet presents a dynamic platform in the future world after the devastating holocaust known as the Great Burning which jeopardized the earth. The chief character or the protagonist is a son of a priest who is well trained in law and is also well aware of the chants and the spells. There were places which were regarded as arenas for the devils, Gods and the spirits and were forbidden for the people in general. Despite knowing the names one cannot utter those names as it was believed that they will be inflicted with curse and spells and as a consequence death will be inevitable. But the storyline of the novel goes beyond the very notion of restraints and fear and through the exploration of a young child into the world of unknown and darkness reveals his urge for removing the curtain over the false assumptions and recognition of transparent truth. The paper seeks to answer whether truth should be injected into a person’s conscience with one big jolt or by the incorporation in small doses (Benet et al, 213). 3. Backdrop of the story The plot of the story ignites in the Eastern United many generations ex-post a war which deserted a civilization and left it into ruins. There are some descendants of only few survivors of the war who live in a clustered tribe far away from the Hudson River. These people are mainly called the Hill People and they were equipped with the practice of the bows and arrows for hunting and the women used to spin wool for making fabrics. Now one of the member of the tribe decides to travel to a forbidden zone i.e. New York City for the purpose of exploration of the truth (Cummings). 4. Theme of the story and simultaneous exploration of the truth The story takes place in the distant future but definitely somewhere on the Earth. The name of the protagonist is John who is one of the Hill people. As he learns to be a priest he also possesses the vision of the Dead place. For the purpose of becoming a priest, John has to explore the world of Dead and he can only become a priest after coming back from his journey. His father is also a priest, but his father fears that the journey will destroy his boy. But for becoming a priest his boy has to explore the place and then come back. Dreams came in his mind and from the description of his dream and his father’s fear it was known that, “I saw and told what I saw. It was what I have always seen—a river, and, beyond it, a great Dead Place and in it the gods walking. I have always thought about that. His eyes were stern when I told him he was no longer my father but a priest. He said, "This is a strong dream" (By the Waters of Babylon, 10). John is aware of the fact that it was his place to continue and he knew that there are some dead places which are divinely forbidden to the people. Again being a son of the priest, John will also follow the intuition or logic of his dreams. In his dreams John visualizes that the Gods are walking and that he also must go the places of the Gods. He also learns about the legends about the gods and expects to be getting killed by them but still he knows that he must go to the place of the Gods (Benet et al, 213). John sets out for the quest and travels a long distance. There was a superstitions related with metals in the Dead places. It was known that touching the metals in the ruins would be fatal. When John went with his father he was afraid and was unknown of the consequences. John’s fear can be captured from his statement, “I stood by the door and my heart felt small and weak” (Cummings). But soon his fear disappeared when his father came out of the door with the metal. When John touched the metal he also did not die and thus his fear also diminished. In the description of the metals John also stated that the metal objects also posed great danger and they are replicated to the unexploded bombs or artillery projectiles. The metals thought to be of exhibiting danger but when John touches the metal it does not blasts. This can be inferred from his statement that, "I take the metal from the Dead Places but I am not blasted" (Cummings). At the end when he reaches the Place of God he finds a dead god sitting beside a window and watching outside the window and watches his civilization being getting ruined. A tremendous sadness was in his face but he was courageous and wisdom was reflecting from his face. John realizes that he was neither a God nor a demon, but he is only a man. After his immense realization, John never feared about these things and he was also able to fight back with the dogs on his way to home. After his return his father never blamed him rather told him to elucidate his experiences. John reports all the things to his father and to everyone in his tribe. He states that “we will make a new beginning” (Cummings). John ultimately finds out the City of Gods. After the perilous journey John returns and states to his father that, “Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you eat too much truth at once, you may die of the truth. It was not idly that our fathers forbade the Dead Places." He was right—it is better the truth should come little by little. I have learned that, being a priest. Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast” (Benet). John’s magnificent urge for exploring the mysterious has led him to unleash the truth and the fear of the unknown, darkness and the evil. The river which was priory forbidden to cross was no longer a binding constraint for the protagonist in the novel. He became the priest and removes all his fear of crossing the so called forbidden river. He states that, “when I am chief priest we shall go beyond the great river. We shall go to the Place of the Gods—the place newyork—not one man but a company. We shall look for the images of the gods and find the god ASHING and the others—the gods Lincoln and Biltmore and Moses. But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I remember the dead man's face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again” (Benet). John receives the vision from the god and feels the urge for returning to the New York City. John returns home as a priest and leads the way for their renewal and creation of new civilization (Cummings). 5. Conclusion From the story line and its underlying mechanism, it can be understood that harmony and the learning techniques between the human beings if developed properly, then the resolution for the termination of violence will be achieved. The chief argument which is resolved is that unnecessary fear and superstitions leads the human beings into the realms of utter ignorance. Truth should be exposed widely and in one jolt so that transparency of the system can be achieved. For that the people needs to be fearless and have to face the challenges and eliminate their roots of ignorance from the core which arises out of superstition and fear. Works Cited Benet, Stephen Vincent, BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON, n.d. Web. June 14, 2012: Benet, Stephen Vincent, Izoo, David Garrett and Lincoln Konkle, Stephen Vincent Benet: Essays on His Life and Work, Wisconsin: McFarland, 2003 By the Waters of Babylon, New York: Dramatic Publishing, 1971 Cummings, Michael J, By the Waters of Babylon, n.d. Web. June 14, 2012 from: Read More