Read the passage from "By the waters of Babylon."
How does the conflict at the beginning of the paragraph
move the plot forward?
Abe
At first I was afraid to approach him—then the fear left me.
He was sitting looking out over the city-he was dressed in
the clothes of the gods. His age was neither young nor old-
could not tell his age. But there was wisdom in his face and
great sadness. You could see that he would have not run
away. He had sat at his window, watching his city diethen
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.
The narrator realizes that he is scared of the gods.
The narrator realizes that he distrusts the spirits
The narrator realizes that the god was a man.
The narrator realizes that he is powerful like the gods.