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John’s father
John finds the well-preserved body of the “dead god” seated at a window in one of the towers in the Land of the Gods. John soon realizes that the dead god is not a god at all, but a dead man, and that the “gods” were in fact humans. John tells us that the dead god’s face looks both wise and sad, and theorizes that though he lost his life, he chose to stay in the city so as not to lose his spirit too.
The Dead God Quotes in By the Waters of Babylon
The By the Waters of Babylon quotes below are all either spoken by The Dead God or refer to The Dead God. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
By the Waters of Babylon
Quotes
He had sat at his window, watching his city die—then he himself had died. But it is better to lose one’s life than one’s 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, there was something unconquered in the face.
That is all of my story, for then I knew he was a man—I knew then that they had been men, neither gods nor demons.
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And, when I am chief priest we shall go beyond the great river. We shall go 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 find 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 remember the dead man’s face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again.
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The Dead God Quotes in By the Waters of Babylon
The By the Waters of Babylon quotes below are all either spoken by The Dead God or refer to The Dead God. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
By the Waters of Babylon
Quotes
He had sat at his window, watching his city die—then he himself had died. But it is better to lose one’s life than one’s 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, there was something unconquered in the face.
That is all of my story, for then I knew he was a man—I knew then that they had been men, neither gods nor demons.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
And, when I am chief priest we shall go beyond the great river. We shall go 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 find 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 remember the dead man’s face. They were men who were here before us. We must build again.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
