Apocalyptic science fiction stories are dominated by the theme of the end of civilization with the influence of technology. For example, By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen V. Benet is a short story in which John, the narrator, describes the taboos of his community and urges people to know the truth. Despite being the son of a priest, John breaks all the rules by going east, going to the dead places, crossing the great river, and even going to the place of the gods. In this case, Dead Goods and John's father are secondary characters within the story and play a huge role in helping the main protagonist find the truth and communicate Benet's message. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The dead gods are used to explain the lives of men before their fall due to the exploitation of their knowledge as John's father guides him about taboos, the meaning behind these taboos and finding the truth. The dead gods on the other side of the river were all the men who were seen living as supernatural beings due to their technological advancements. John explained that the gods “had been men, neither gods nor demons.” This characterization of men as gods points to their life before the world was destroyed in the great fire. John described the gods as having “wisdom beyond wisdom and knowledge beyond knowledge” (Benet 7). The description of the people's knowledge suggests that they are technologically advanced compared to John's people. Therefore, the gods are men who promote technology and sophisticated lifestyles. The complexity of the dead gods' lifestyle suggests that they have advanced technological capabilities. John describes a wash house without water, a kitchen without firewood, and a cooking machine without a place to light a fire (Benet 6). The tools used by the gods indicate that their technology has advanced beyond the understanding of an individual from John's people. Through technological advancements, the dead gods are able to turn “night into day for their pleasure” (Benet 7). The lifestyle of the gods describes today's world as an example where electricity allows them to carry on their events after dark. Through the description of the lifestyles of the dead gods, the author explains the lifestyle of modern men. The “great fire” is seen in the text as an attack on civilization due to man-made weapons. John describes the war that led to the great fire and destruction of the dead gods as a war that used “sophisticated weapons that his people did not know” (Benet 7). The complexity of war is represented by the tactics and weapons used by people. John described that there was “fire falling from heaven and a fog that poisoned,” even killing the gods (Benet 7). Fire falling from the sky can be seen as the use of modern weapons, such as bombs and missiles, while poisonous fog can describe biological weapons such as poisonous gas used in warfare. The survival of some gods indicates that John's people may be remnants of the men of the past and that they themselves are essentially gods. That said, the few of those who survived the annihilation were most likely John's people. John sees his people as privileged claiming that they are not “ignorant like the people of the forest” (Benet 1). John claims superiority due to his idea of ​​advanced civilization habits, just as the gods appear superior by possessing technology. John described the gods as “men who were here before us” and spoke of a legend that somethey escaped the great fire (Benet 8). He concludes the narrative by saying that he and his people will rebuild the city. Therefore, the dead gods symbolize secondary characters, and their city and their depiction in the tale inspire John to rebuild civilization after their annihilation by the great fire. Finally, John's father who is a priest prepares John for the priesthood that will one day succeed him and become next in line. John distinguished himself from his brothers by waiting for his father when he went to get a metal from “the house of a dead man” (Benet 1). From that day forward, John was raised to become a priest and inherit his father's position as priest. To bring this reality to fruition, John's father punished him more severely than his brothers for his misbehavior, in order to prepare him for future priesthood duties (Benet 1). John's father taught him the secrets of the priesthood, which his brothers did not know and can be seen as part of John's future character development. Not only did it prepare him for the priesthood, but it also prepared him for leadership by allowing him to go to dead houses that ultimately taught him the secrets of a priest. These secrets included chants and incantations such as how to stop bleeding from a wound. Thus John's father was determined to help his son become a successful priest. The statement that “a priest must know many secrets” indicates that he was preparing John for the journey east (Benet 1). With John's travels eastward, all the taboos of his people were broken. The little questions and books offered to John by his father awakened his curiosity which led him to travel to the place of the gods and investigate what happened to the dead gods. John's father also indirectly guides his son on where he should go on his journey. This is evident when he reminds John of the three taboos, “such as not traveling eastward, not crossing the river, or going to the place of the gods” (Benet 2). However, the signs John receives from his father all point to a path in which he should travel east, cross the river, and go to the place of the gods. His father had prepared him to go against taboos in search of knowledge, and this characteristic was necessary to make him a “great priest”. From John's dream, his father knew where he was going on his journey and did not stop him. From a young age, John's father was characterized as the support character John needed to uncover the ruins of civilization. In the tale, John's father is also depicted as a link between the past civilization and the new world about to rebuild God's place. He expressed his defiance of taboos by claiming that he "couldn't have done it in his time" and suggests that he also wanted to explore taboos himself when he was the same age as John. His hearing of John's adventures suggested that he knew what would happen on the other side of the river, and his understanding of the truth in the story indicated that the author had constructed the character to guide John through his journey to discover the ruins of past civilization. . John's father's wisdom also directs him on how to handle and deal with the truth he discovers about taboos and dead gods. He states that “the truth is a hard deer to hunt”, in reference to John's journey, the breaking of taboos did not lead to death but led to the truth (Benet 8). John's father suggests how to handle the truth that John discovers instead of telling everyone. John acknowledged that he saw the wisdom of his father's decision to expose the dead places to the general population (Benet 8). Keeping the truth to themselves and releasing it little by little has allowed people to digest it and make good use of it. The observation.