"Is this Transcendence?"

So I worked up a really nice thought as I was commenting on Will's blog and I just wanted to go into it a little more on my own. As I mentioned in my comment, this may be a little stretch, but it is food for thought before we go in and discuss "The Other Side of the Hedge."

Ok, we can gather from the reading (and from her pre-discussion questions) that the reading has some religious themes and, to me, it seems to be an allegory of the human condition.

As far as the allegory goes, the parallels I found were in the people of the road being a sort of busy body people who are going towards a goal that no one really knows about. He mentions right off that most of the people who pass him as he takes a break jeer at him, which makes me think that it is a cruel lonely existence. He remembers his brother and how he falls behind because he was more more worried about helping other people and used his breath to sing and such. It seems to survive in this existence you have to in an "every man for himself" kind of mentality.

Then, in some sort of enlightenment he realizes some curiosity for the other side and (after a bit of suffering) makes it to this "community of the moat." It is a place of happy people who aren't going anywhere seem as if they feel by being in this place they have indeed "arrived." I feel like this existence parallels with a sort of transcendence, which could be a sort of heaven but most likely the life of the enlightened. In fact, it is all tied together with the presence of his brother.

To me, it seems like strolling, or running, or whatever this "rat race" (as Will called it) of life is only done properly if one is individualist... and maybe even selfish. And there is no assurance that the toil even has a profitable end. However I feel like the author finds the real gain in being one of the people of the moat.

I donno, I may have posed for even more questions... it'll be interesting to talk about what do you guys think?