Student Question
Why does the author of "By the Waters of Babylon" choose to narrate the story through John's perspective? What makes John special?
Quick answer:
The author of "By the Waters of Babylon" uses John's perspective to immerse readers in the mystery and discovery process. John's youth makes him curious and willing to challenge societal norms, while his role as a priest's son grants him unique access to forbidden areas. His maturity allows him to interpret his findings wisely, and his novice view helps readers experience the world anew. This narrative choice creates intimacy and enhances the story's irony and themes.
The author uses the first person point-of-view in order to limit our knowledge. We know only what John tells us as he makes his journey to the Place of the Gods. Consequently, we, like John, are confronted with a mystery to solve. We share John's immediate experience and feelings but we know only what he knows. As the story progresses, the point-of-view allows us to develop a sense of intimacy with John, as if he was talking directly to us. However, when we apply our own knowledge to the objects and places John finds, we begin to know what John is really seeing before he does. When John says, " Perhaps, in the old days, they ate knowledge too fast," the irony is more poignant for the reader, knowing what that knowledge was and how it destroyed the people of that society, than for John.
Why did Benét choose John as the narrator in "By the Waters of Babylon"?
John is an ideal character for...
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this story for several reasons. One reason is that he is young, and it is the young who are usually more willing and anxious to find knowledge for themselves, and to break free from societal constraints in order to find that knowledge. John believes in the rules and codes of his people, but because he is driven to learn, and young enough to be motivated, he is willing to stretch the rules a bit in his quest for information and wisdom. It is only this willingness to cross boundaries that leads him into the place of the gods; his father, older and more steeped in follwing traditions exactly, probably would have never dared. So, John's youth lends itself well to adventure and discovery despite restrictions.
Another reason John is a good choice is because he is, in his tribe, the son of a priest. A priest has special privileges; going into dead places, touching metal, etc. Also, a priest is required to go on a spirit walk, not like most of the other people there. It is is John's spirit walk that enables him to discover great things. If he couldn't go where other men didn't, or didn't participate in a spirit walk, he wouldn't have learned so much.
John is another great choice because he is mature beyond his years, and is able to take his discoveries back to a wise father and decide, with him, what to do with the knowledge. Also, as he journeys, we see things through a novice's eyes, through the eyes of someone who has never seen these things before. It helps us to picture them ourselves, and see things from the viewpoint of someone coming upon them for the first time. John describes things so well, and has such maturity to draw wise conclusions from them; that helps us to understand them also.
I hope that helps; good luck!