Question

It was close and dry and dusty in the house of the gods. I have said the magic was gone but that is not true—it had gone from the magic things but it had not gone from the place. I felt the spirits about me, weighing upon me. Nor had I ever slept in a Dead Place before—and yet, tonight, I must sleep there. When I thought of it, my tongue felt dry in my throat, in spite of my wish for knowledge. Almost I would have gone down again and faced the dogs, but I did not.
I had not gone through all the rooms when the darkness fell. When it fell, I went back to the big room looking over the city and made fire. There was a place to make fire and a box with wood in it, though I do not think they cooked there. I wrapped myself in a floor-covering and slept in front of the fire—I was very tired.

–“By the Waters of Babylon,”

Stephen Vincent Benét
Which statement best describes how the narrator responds to the conflict?

A) The narrator responds to his fear by staying in the big room to learn more.
B) The narrator responds to the conflict by killing the dogs with the bow and arrow from his father.
C) The narrator responds to his conflict with the spirits by using magic to defeat them.
D) The narrator responds to his fear by burning down the house of the gods, showing that he is no longer afraid.

Answer 1

A. The narrator responds to his fear by staying in the big room to learn more.

Answer 2

Answer: A) The narrator responds to his fear by staying in the big room to learn more.

Explanation:

"By the Waters of Babylon" is a short story by Stephen Vincent Benét. The main character John is a priest who lives in a postapocalyptic world. His people believes gods once inhabited their land. It turns out that those who they believe to have been gods were actually ordinary people like themselves. The story implies some sort of weapon of mass destruction was the cause of people's death. In John's world, cities are called Dead Places and metal is believed to be cursed.

In the excerpt we are analyzing, John has reached an enormous dead place, New York. Even though he is afraid of the gods' ancient magic and of the spirits he has been taught to believe inhabit this place, his thirst for knowledge is stronger. He chooses to spend the night at the Dead Place. His dreams during that night bring the revelation that there were no gods, no magic. It was society's fascination for technology that brought its own destruction.