By the Waters of Babylon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"By the Waters of Babylon" is a post-apocalyptic short story by Stephen Vincent Benét first published July 31, 1937, in The Saturday Evening Post as "The Place of the Gods".^[1] It was republished in 1943 in The Pocket Book of Science Fiction,^[2] and was adapted in 1971 into a one-act play by Brainerd Duffield.^[3]

John tells the tale of his exploration of the forbidden "Place of the Gods" in a world that has nearly forgotten the existence of 20th century civilization. John is the son of a priest of a tribe of hunters, heirs to a global catastrophe, whose curiosity takes him on a journey of discovery and search for truth about his civilized ancestors.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 References made 3 Analysis 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References

[edit] Plot summary

Set in a future following the destruction of industrial civilization, the story is narrated by a young man^[4] named John who is the son of a priest. The priests of John’s people are inquisitive "scientists" associated with the divine. They are the only ones who can handle metal collected from the homes (called the "Dead Places") of long-dead people whom they believe to be gods. The plot follows John’s self-assigned mission to get to the Place of the Gods. His father allows him to go.

John journeys through the forest for eight days, and crosses the river Ou-dis-sun. Once John gets to the Place of the Gods, he feels the energy and magic there. He sees a statue of a "god" — in point of fact, a human — that says "ASHING" on its base. He also sees a building marked "UBTREAS". After being chased by dogs and sleeping in someone's apartment, John sees a dead god. Upon viewing the visage, he has an epiphany that the gods were simply humans whose power overwhelmed good judgment. After John returns to his tribe, he speaks of the places "newyork" and "Biltmore".

When he returns home, he tells his father all that he sees, and mentions that he wants to tell everyone else. His father tells him not to, for sometimes too much truth is a bad thing, that it must be told little by little. The story ends with John stating his conviction that, once he becomes the head priest, "We must build again."

[edit] References made

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2008)

• The "great river" "Ou-dis-sun" is the Hudson River.^[5][6]
• The statue of "ASHING" is of George Washington.^[5]
• "UBTREAS" is the Subtreasury.^[5]
• Biltmore was a hotel.
• The roof of the "temple" John entered was painted like the night sky, suggesting that it was Grand Central Station.
• The cumulative effect of the above suggests that "the Place of the Gods" is New York City, and the last paragraph of the story confirms this, calling it "the place newyork".^[5][6]
• "Bitter Water" refers to the Atlantic Ocean at the end of the Hudson River.
• Moses refers to Robert Moses (1888-1981), a New York City public official who oversaw many large construction projects, such as bridges and public buildings.
• Babylon, New York, is a town and village on Long Island named after the ancient city of Babylon. This location would be an anachronism to the story, since John travels east to New York City and crosses the Hudson. Had he been traveling from Babylon on Long Island, he would be traveling west and cross the East River instead.

[edit] Analysis

Benét wrote the story in response to the April 26, 1937 bombing of Guernica, in which Fascist military forces destroyed the majority of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.^[7]

The title quotes Psalm 137. The psalm tells of the Israelites's great sorrow over the destruction of their Temple in Jerusalem and their enslavement in the land of Babylon.

[edit] See also

• List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The term post-apocalyptic paraphrases Izzo.[1]
   Date of publication is from BENÉT, STEPHEN VINCENT in Miscellaneous Story Anthologies
   Benét changed the title when selecting works for Thirteen O'Clock. (Fenton, 1958)
2. ^ Book Information: Pocket Book of Science Fiction, the. Donald A. Wollheim, ed. (1943). Steven Jeffery / IBList.com, 2007
3. ^ Description from the play catalog of Dramatic Publishing.
   The adaption is distinct from the 2005 play of the same name by Robert Schenkkan.
4. ^ Wagar, p. 163, who also calls him a "young savage" (p. 25). Macdonald, p. 267-268, which also calls him a "young brave". In the play adaptation, he appears as a young man and, in a non-speaking part, as a boy. (Duffield, 1971)
5. ^ ^{a b c d} Macdonald, p. 267-268.
6. ^ ^{a b} Wagar, p. 25.
7. ^ Source is Izzo, who also notes that Benét wrote other stories and poems in response to the threat of Fascism in the 1930s.

[edit] References

• Benét, Stephen Vincent; Henry C. Pitz (illus.) (July 31, 1937). "THE PLACE OF THE GODS". Saturday Evening Post 210 (5): 10–11, 59–60 (4p). 
• Benét, Stephen Vincent (c1937 repr. 1971). Thirteen O'Clock: Stories of Several Worlds. Ayer Co Pub. ISBN 0836937937. 
• Duffield, Brainerd; Stephen Vincent Benét (1971). Stephen Vincent Benet's By the waters of Babylon; a play in one act. Chicago: Dramatic Pub. Co.. (WorldCat) (preview)
• Fenton, Charles A. (1958 repr. 1978). Stephen Vincent Benet: The Life and Times of an American Man of Letters, 1898-1943. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313202001. 
• Izzo, David Garrett. Stephen Vincent Benét (1898-1943). The Literary Encyclopedia. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. (about the author)
• Macdonald, Andrew, Gina Macdonald, and MaryAnn Sheridan. (2000). Shape-shifting: images of Native Americans in recent popular fiction. Contributions to the study of popular culture, no. 71. Westport, Conn, Greenwood Press. ISBN 031330842X.
• Wagar, W. Warren (1982). Terminal Visions: The Literature of Last Things. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253358477.