How does the resolution in this passage help develop the
theme about rules?
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!
Gold 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 started to climb down. I
heard the squeaking of rats, so I did not go-rats are
When the narrator decides not to hunt, he recognizes
that the rules of the gods were better than the rules of
his people.
When the narrator enters the temple, he recognizes
that he no longer fears the gods, regardless of what the
rules of his people say
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