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Waters Of Babylon Pessimism

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Waters Of Babylon Pessimism
In the course of time, technology will soon take over if it is not controlled. “By the Waters of Babylon”, written by Stephen Vincent Benét, tells the story of a young member of the Hill People who has been curious about the ancient civilization before him. Benét is trying to get the message out to his readers that mankind is becoming so dependent on technology and machines that they will soon destroy themselves, It also creates a disturbing view on what was going to happen to mankind if they continued to let technology run their lives. With his pessimistic view on what he thinks will happen in the future, he believes that with doing the little things here and there, it is what will end humanity. In “By the Waters of Babylon,” technology destroys all of, what Benet explains to be, New …show more content…
According to ENotes.com, war had taken place before John and his people were even born. The city was destroyed by a bomb used in the war that the people invented with the new technology they had discovered. Legend told it as the “Palace of the Gods” and “it is there that there are the ashes of the Great Burning.” However, it was just an average city that may had been on fire at one point in time, but it never continued to burn. Benet then brings forward the facts that drives the reader to think that it was just human nature that drove them to do this, but with their pristine technology, it shows that the Hill People and the Forest people are still trying to kill each other and John explained that even after the “gods” had left the city, the “Forest People could have killed me without fight.” This explains that even though John believes he and his people are going to rebuild and make themselves great like the past civilization, they would only destroy themselves again because it is human

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