By the Waters of Babylon

Setting refers to the location and time period where a story takes place. “By the Waters of Babylon” is set in a postapocalyptic version of New York City as well as the rural hills and forests that surround it. Benét alludes to the fact that the Place of the Gods is New York by describing famous and familiar landmarks, such as the starry ceiling of Grand Central Station, the crumbling statue of George Washington that reads “ASHING,” and the broken-down Sub Treasury building, which John reads as “UBTREAS” (5). Even the Hill People’s name for the great river, Ou-dis-sun, represents an attempt to sound out the name of the Hudson River. John gets to experience New York both as it is in his present as he explores it and as it was in the past through his visions. The tension between the famous city of the real world and the ruined fictional version plays an essential role in the story’s overall meaning and impact. By capturing both the real New York his readers would have been familiar with and the fictional dystopian version, Benét paints a grim picture of the destruction humans are capable of and the possible consequences if this devastating power and knowledge are not tempered with wisdom.