Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon."
After a while, I knew that my belly was hungry. I could
have
hunted for my meat, but I did not hunt. It is
known that the gods did not hunt as we do-they got
their food
from enchanted boxes and jars. Sometimes
these are still found in the Dead Places-once, when I
was a child and foolish, I opened such a jar and tasted
it and found the food sweet. But my father found out
and punished me for it strictly, for, often, that food is
death. Now, though, I had long gone past what was
forbidden, and I entered the likeliest towers, looking for
the food of the gods.
I found it at last in the ruins of a great temple in the
mid-city. A mighty temple it must have been, for the
roof was painted like the sky at night with its stars-
that much I could see, though the colors were faint and
dim. It went down into great caves and tunnels-
perhaps they kept their slaves there. But when I
How does the resolution in this passage help develop
the theme
about rules?
When the narrator decides not to hunt, he
recognizes that the rules of the gods were better
than the rules of his people.
O When the narrator enters the temple, he recognizes
that he no longer fears the gods, regardless of what
the rules of his people say.
O When the narrator avoids the rats, he realizes that
he is going against the teachings of his people, but
also doing what is necessary for his survival.
When the narrator decides to ignore his father's
words and eat the food of the gods, he realizes that
he is learning to make his own choices.