Read the Passage From by the Waters of Babylon." When I Woke,
John is the narrator, protagonist, and archetypal, "everyman" hero of the story. A fellow almost to come of historic period within his tribe (known as the Hill People), John is the son of a priest and is preparing to become a priest himself. John is fascinated by the myths of the Time of the Gods, and throughout the story, he is motivated by his desire to acquire knew knowledge about the gods and the history of human culture. As an aspiring priest, John attempts to face up the challenges he encounters without fear, and he often remarks on how his fears diminish equally he acquires more and more knowledge.
John Quotes in By the Waters of Babylon
The By the Waters of Babylon quotes beneath are all either spoken past John or refer to John. For each quote, you tin also see the other characters and themes related to information technology (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The north and the west and the south are skilful hunting footing, but it is forbidden to go east. Information technology is forbidden to go to any of the Dead Places except to search for metal […] These are the rules and the laws; they are well made. It is forbidden to cross the great river and expect upon the place that was the Identify of the Gods—this is most strictly forbidden. We do not even say its proper noun though we know its name.
Related Characters: John (speaker)
Related Symbols: Metal
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Assay:
I was taught how to read in the old books and how to make the old writings—it was like a fire in my heart. Most of all, I liked to hear of the Quondam Days and the stories of the gods. I asked myself many questions that I could non answer, but it was good to enquire them. At dark, I would prevarication awake and mind to the wind—it seemed to me that it was the vocalization of the gods as they flew through the air.
Related Characters: John (speaker)
Page Number and Citation:
Caption and Analysis:
We are not ignorant like the Wood People—our women spin wool on the wheel, our priests wearable a white robe. We do not consume grubs from the tree, we have not forgotten the old writings, though they are hard to understand. Nevertheless, my noesis and my lack of noesis burned in me—I wished to know more.
Related Characters: John (speaker)
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Assay:
"This is a very strong dream," he said. "It may eat y'all upwards. […] Information technology is forbidden to travel east. It is forbidden to cross the river. It is forbidden to go to the Place of the Gods. [...] If your dreams do not consume you up, you may be a great priest. If they eat y'all, you are still my son. Now go on your journeying."
Folio Number and Commendation:
Explanation and Assay:
If I went to the Place of the Gods, I would surely dice, merely, if I did not become, I could never be at peace with my spirit once more. It is better to lose ane's life than i's spirit, if one is a priest and the son of a priest.
Related Characters: John (speaker)
Page Number and Commendation:
Explanation and Analysis:
There was a cooking-identify only no woods, and though there was a machine to melt nutrient, there was no place to put burn in it. Nor were there candles or lamps—there were things that looked like lamps but they had neither oil nor wick. All these things were magic, but I touched them and lived—the magic had gone out of them.
Related Characters: John (speaker)
Related Symbols: Metal
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
When gods war with gods, they utilise weapons we do not know. It was fire falling out of the sky and a mist that poisoned. It was the fourth dimension of the Neat Burning and the Destruction. […] Then the towers began to fall. A few escaped—yeah, a few. The legends tell it. But, fifty-fifty later on the city had become a Dead Identify, for many years the toxicant was still in the ground. […] Information technology was darkness over the city and I wept.
Related Characters: John (speaker)
Folio Number and Citation:
Caption and Analysis:
He had sabbatum at his window, watching his metropolis dice—and then he himself had died. Simply it is ameliorate to lose one'south life than one'due south spirit—and you could see from the face that his spirit had not been lost. I knew that, if I touched him, he would fall into dust—and yet, in that location was something unconquered in the confront.
That is all of my story, for and so I knew he was a homo—I knew and then that they had been men, neither gods nor demons.
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
He said, "Truth is a hard deer to hunt. If you swallow besides much truth at once, you may die of the truth. It was not idly that our father forbade the Dead Places." He was right—it is better the truth should come little by little. I take learned that, being a priest. Possibly, in the old days, they ate knowledge also fast.
Folio Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
And, when I am principal priest nosotros shall go across the swell river. We shall become 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 observe the god ASHING and the others—the gods Licoln and Biltmore and Moses. But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men. I call up the dead man's face. They were men who were here before us. Nosotros must build once again.
Folio Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
John Character Timeline in By the Waters of Babylon
The timeline below shows where the character John appears in By the Waters of Babylon. The colored dots and icons bespeak which themes are associated with that appearance.
In the story's opening paragraph, the protagonist and first-person narrator, John, recounts the laws of his tribe. It has been forbidden since the beginning of time,... (full context)
John tells us about the first time his father, a priest (and also named John), took... (total context)
John continued to visit the Dead Places and learned more near them, and eventually, he was... (total context)
The priests teach John chants, spells, and other secrets. He learns how to read and write in the "old... (full context)
John is proud of his tribe, The Hill People, and he mocks their rival tribe, The... (full context)
When John is no longer a boy, he tells his father that he is ready to become... (full context)
John'southward father warns John that this is a "potent" and dangerous dream, and reminds him that... (full context)
John leaves the village and waits for a sign. Just afterwards dawn, he sees an eagle... (full context)
John travels east for viii days, first forth the god-roads and then through the wood, fugitive... (total context)
John prays earlier the river, then looks south and sees the Place of the Gods, an... (full context)
John knows that he will die if he enters the Place of the Gods, but he... (full context)
John weeps as he builds the raft he will apply to cantankerous the river to the... (total context)
As he crosses the river, John sings his decease song, in which he proclaims his backbone and enumerates the challenges he... (full context)
John has problem steering the raft across the river. Just before he reaches the shores of... (full context)
Every bit he enters the Place of the Gods, John is amazed to discover that many of the things he had been told almost it... (full context)
Exploring the island further, John finds cleaved rock pillars and a ruined edifice carved with the messages UBTREAS. Nearby, he... (full context)
...very few trees: its landscape is almost entirely fabricated from metal and stone towers, and John describes how many buildings are carved with words and numbers that he believes have magical... (full context)
John explains that the gods did not chase; instead, they ate food from magical jars. As... (full context)
When John wakes up, a large, wolf-like domestic dog is watching him. He throws a stone in an... (full context)
Just as the dogs begin to rush him, John finds a door into 1 of the towers (John also calls them "god-houses") that opens.... (full context)
The building itself is foreign and fascinating. John describes a narrow room with bronze doors without handles and, apparently, no way of beingness... (full context)
The rooms are dusty and stuffy, merely announced untouched since the Time of the Gods. John describes the soft furniture and carpeting, and the paintings on the walls. He seems particularly... (full context)
John also describes objects that he believes were once imbued with magic: a sink without water,... (full context)
John soon realizes that he volition take to spend the nighttime in the flat. He is... (full context)
John wakes in the centre of the dark. The fire has gone out and he thinks... (full context)
Looking out through the windows, John is amazed to see that the Urban center of the Gods is not dark, fifty-fifty though... (full context)
The gods, John tells us, were restless, powerful, marvelous, and terrible, and they possessed vast cognition and wisdom.... (full context)
In his vision, John sees the gods' "fate come upon them" in the shape of a terrible war. John... (full context)
When John wakes the side by side morning, he attempts to make sense of his vision. He now understands... (full context)
As he explores the apartment, John finds the dead god sitting in a chair by the window, as if he is... (total context)
Later he learns that the gods were, in fact, human, John tells united states that he lost all of his fearfulness. He returns home unafraid, fighting off... (full context)
John wants to share the knowledge he has acquired with the whole tribe, but his father... (full context)
Still, John tells u.s., he has ambitions to learn more about the "gods," what they knew, and... (total context)
Requesting a new championship requires a costless LitCharts account.
With a gratuitous LitCharts account, you'll also become updates on new titles we publish and the ability to salve highlights and notes.
Creating notes and highlights requires a costless LitCharts account.
You can access all of your notes and highlights by logging into your business relationship.
Read the Passage From by the Waters of Babylon." When I Woke,
Source: https://www.litcharts.com/lit/by-the-waters-of-babylon/characters/john