Literary Devices in Scythe and By the Waters of Babylon Essay Example

We have all told ourselves that we are going to some assignment tomorrow or later. When the assignment is about to be due however we are regretting pushing it back a day. Every conflict has something to learn from it or a theme. Literary devices such as conflict resolution and foreshadowing develop a common theme, the coming of age brings knowledge, in the novel Scythe and the short story By the Waters of Babylon. 

The way conflict is resolved in both stories helps to develop the coming of age brings knowledge theme. “‘There’s a tray of knives next to you, and a car waiting for you at the east exit’ Then she leaned away, leaving his furniture firmly in his own hands. He thought he could not be more impressed by her. She had just proved him wrong. ‘I love you’ he said. ‘Same here,’ she responded. ‘Now get lost’”(Scythe) Near the end of the story, after Citra and Rowan have come to age together she makes the enlightened decision to let her friend go. Throughout their scythe training Citra realized that they both cared for each other. In the end she makes a wiser decision and lets Rowan live. In the same way By the Waters of Babylon constructs a similar theme.“We shall look for the images of the gods and find the god ASHING and the others—the gods Lincoln and Biltmore and Moses. But they were men who built the city, not gods or demons. They were men.” John now knows that there are no gods but regular people. As he goes on his quest he comes of age to realize that there were no gods in the first place and that there is nothing to be afraid of.  He also realizes that this is something he himself wants to explore. As you can see the common theme, the coming of age brings knowledge, is represented in Scythe and By the Waters of Babylon through the settling of conflict. 

Foreshadowing also creates the common theme that the coming of age brings knowledge. “I often wonder what motivates other scythes to [take an apprentice]’Learn from me and be awed because I am so wise.’ For others perhaps it is compensation for not being allowed to have any children: ‘Be my son or my daughter for a year and I will give you power over life and death.’ Yet for others I imagine it is to prepare themselves for their own self gleaning. ‘Be the new me so I can leave this world satisfied’ I suspect, however, If i ever take on an apprentice it will be for a different reason entirely”(Scythe) This piece of text evidence foreshadows how Citra will come of age. Scythe Curie won't sculpt Citra like herself, but she will sculpt Citra into a great scythe. Because of this Citra or Scythe Anastasia, as she comes of age under Scythe Curie,is bound to become a spectacular scythe. By the Waters of Babylon also creates a similar theme. ”Most of all I liked to hear of the Old Days and the stories of the gods.” John being fascinated by the stories of the gods at a young age foreshadows one of the biggest quests in his life. Whilst on the quest of traveling to the Place of the Gods he comes of age and discovers that there are no gods but normal people. Foreshadowing progresses the common theme of the coming of age brings knowledge in Scythe and By the Waters of Babylon.

Literary devices such as foreshadowing, and conflict rectification in the novel Scythe and the short story By the Waters of Babylon develop a paired theme of the coming of age brings knowledge. Any problem whether it is presented in a story or in real life has a theme. We all have problems and they happen for a reason, however is always something to take away from a problem. Many people love dystopian stories because they are an altered reality, because of that the conflicts are so extraordinary. In all we take great pleasure in dystopian novels because no matter how altered the reality is the theme can always apply to our lives.