Alas, Babylon: Survival and Isolation

When I was about six years old, my older brother and a few of his friends thought it would be funny if they removed the divider between to the two betta fish we had in our fish tank. Bettas are very aggressive and territorial fish and usually like to be left alone, so the second that they removed the divider, they started attacking each other. Even though they are just fish and are very small, it was blatantly obvious that they were doing harm to each other. He later put the borders back up but a few hours later, one of them had died. I blamed it on the fact that my brother let the fish do that to each other and later, told my dad. My brother, of course, got in trouble. I was confused at the time on why they had to do that and why one had died. My father had told me that the reason why one of them died because he was weak compared to the other one and could not endure fighting against the other fish. I was still very upset and angry at my older brother for doing that, but that was one of the first times I had heard about something relating to the topic of

were here before us. We must build again." They will learn the ways of the old

Which would you value more-knowledge, or truth? Stephen Vincent Benét explores this question in his short story “By the Waters of Babylon”. However, Benét doesn’t answer this question exactly, instead “By the Waters of Babylon” focuses more on a singular theme that knowledge and truth are intertwined. Benét brings the reader into a post-apocalyptic world where humans have resorted to a more primitive state after the “Great Burning”(310). Now the only humans left with any knowledge are the Priests, and John happens to be the son of one. John has been exposed to the only remaining knowledge that he’s been told his society has at that the time and now quest for more. This burning desire that John has to know more of

In both I Am Legend and “By the Waters of Babylon,” the author and the director have very comparable styles when it comes to certain aspects of their work. The theme of both the film and the story revolve around the idea of humanity destroying itself due to the misuse of power and misunderstanding of the knowledge they had acquired. On the contrary, the mood in I Am Legend and “By the Waters of Babylon” are vastly different. In the film, the viewer feels the pain and loss embodied by Robert Neville himself; while in the story, John didn’t have any personal losses related to the catastrophic event that overtook those before him. Therefore the reader doesn’t connect to John in the same empathetic

As he and Randy talk, Orlando is hit with a missile, and the lights go out in Fort Repose. Randy is remaining calm and planning what is best for friends, family, and himself. With Orlando destroyed, Fort Repose loses power. In order to have a supply of clean water, Randy runs a pipe out to a nearby grove. That night a radio announcer reports the many parts of the United States that have been declared "Contaminated

Think about what it would be like to have no resources left and be on the verge of dying. In Pat Frank’s, Alas Babylon this question is asked over and over. One never truly knows when one is going to have to prepare for the worst, but in this book the main character gets a hint that it is coming before it actually comes. Randy Bragg is a fortunate man, he has never had to struggle for what he wants, causing him to drink and be a carefree person, but this changed with one telegram. Randy is a person who would not survive in a time of crisis and need of survival, or so one thinks at the beginning of Alas Babylon. Randy was prepared for what was to come and he knew what he needed to do in order to survive. One of the main things that kept Randy alive was the people he surrounded himself with; he knew who he needed and each of their talents. Randy was a selfless person and knew he could not fight for his life alone; he was in need of the people around him. Some people will do whatever it takes to survive, using all of their resources. While others cannot handle the change, they believe there is no use in living anymore in times of crisis. Each person deals with a time of crisis differently, but survival is or should be everyone’s main goal. In a time of crisis, one can see the true character of the people around them and the worth of each person.

F. Scott Fitzgerald 's story is called "Babylon Revisited" because the main character Charlie Wales is going to revisit his past. The ancient city of Babylon was almost like a sin city but in this story it refers to Paris, France. As described in the Bible in Genesis 11:9, Babylon was a symbol caused by the absence of God, meaning they were living in confusion, idolatry and all kind of sins. The Babylonian people were affected by sins because of the absence of God. "Babylon Revisited" occurred after the stock market crash in 1929. The story starts in the middle of a conversation between Charlie and Alix, a bartender at the Ritz. The beginning of the story is not clear enough for the readers to understand what is going on because it started with a general conversation in the middle of the events. The character, Charlie Wales, was a heavy drinker who lost his money, his wife Helen, and his daughter Honoria. Charlie returns to Paris to find his daughter and to make up for the time they had lost. The past plays a major role on how the characters of Charlie, Marion, and Honoria interact with each other throughout the story.

The themes of the story “by the waters of Babylon,” are knowledge and true intentions. I say this because the main character John thinks he knows enough to carry on this journey alone and go in the opposite direction. The path John decided to take was not only the wrong path but it was also forbidden, thus making his choice unlawful. His father would be extremely disappointed if he saw the way his son went. The forbidden path meant no priesthood, John made a life changing decision just by walking in a different line.

The main theme in the short story “Babylon Revisited” is that you can’t repeat the past. Charlie has a lot of hope for the future, but his guilt from the past catches up with him. He tries to forget about the Paris he used to know, but memories from the past haunts him throughout the story. His past is inescapable and he has to pay great debts when the party comes to an end. “Babylon Revisited”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1931. The story is greatly affected by the time period it was written in, and by what was going on in Fitzgerald’s life.

970 CE - A completed public library in Cordoba with nearly half a million books.

Duetero-Isaiah also uses First Isaiah’s concept of the Israelite people as a remnant to anticipate the life of the Hebrews following the Babylonian Exile. In First Isaiah, it says, “For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall overflow with righteousness” (Isaiah 10:22). God made a covenant with David and Abraham that their people and descendants will live forever. However, with the Babylonian exile and the destruction of Jerusalem, the covenant is being threatened. “Thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea” refers to the covenant that the Hebrew people shall live forever—innumerous like the “sand of the sea”. However, the covenant will be fulfilled following the threat of the covenant “remnants” or

According to history Daniel vision was a reality. History reveals that the first kingdom was the Babylonian empire ruled from 625 to 539 B.C. The 2nd kingdom was the Medo – Persian Empire which reigned from 538B.C until 330 B.C. when it was overwhelmed by the 3rd kingdom the Greco – Macedonian Empire which was led by Alexander the Great. Finally the fourth kingdom has to be the Roman Empire which defeated the other kingdom after the other. The Roman Empire was the greatest war making machine the world had ever known. It was strong , cruel and ruthless and it had its own laws and civilization. The Roman Empire split into two divisions after A.D 330. The Western division was headquartered in Rome and the Eastern Division in Constantinople . The

As the spokesman of the “jazz age” generation and impassioned American youth, F. Scott Fitzgerald dealt with the effects a self-absorbed lifestyle can have on a spirit and a society in his work “Babylon Revisited.” Though Fitzgerald’s literary works did not become success or popular till after his death, Fitzgerald is now considered one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. In “Babylon Revisited,” Fitzgerald tells Charles J. Wales’ journey in the lovely city of Paris by furnishing a detailed setting.

Iraqi society is quite proud of its different types of architecture and design. Their buildings have evolved and taken different shapes over Iraq’s history. In the time of the Babylonian civilization, the City of Babylon was famous for not just its decadence, but also the manner in which the houses and other buildings were constructed. During the era of the Abbasid Dynasty the Caliphs built many sites that are still standing until this moment. Buildings such as Al-Mustansariya (Fig: ) university and several mosques like Al-Malwiyah ( Fig: ) in Samarra, were built by the Abbasids.

Babylonian civilization is considered as one of the most important civilizations in the ancient world. The Babylonians took and developed everything after the Sumerians civilization especially in the spiritual realm and in the field of building an integrated civilization. The earlier civilizations had big role in the Babylonians civilization period when Babylonians took all the cuneiform writing, mathematical and astronomical knowledge, in addition to that the method of building cities, dams and etc. they improved all of them. The development of knowledge continued by Babylonian where the Sumerians stop, and the Babylonian built an empire for themselves on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the southern part of Sumer (Iraq). "The first Amuriyahian family has ruled over Babylon in the period (1830- 1530 BC), when Babylon was a mini-states at the time." Then the greatest king of Babylonian Hammurabi appeared in the seventeenth century BC. He established a famous group of laws known by (Hammurabi code).Also he was the king who united this petty States and achieved an important architectural movement in the city of Babylon.