At breakfast this morning my youngest brother told me about the allegory he is studying in his English class. I told him we just studied a little bit of allegory in Honors but I don't like it. Then i realized, I was probably making a general statement about Allegory when what i really meant was "I don't want to live on either side of the Hedge."
At the end of class on thursday, Ms. Bear asked us to think about which side of the Hedge we would want to live on. I still contend with what Will Drake said in class, that our culture has trained us for the Road and we would be unsatisfied through the Hedge. But i also think that i wouldn't want to live on the road either. I drew an example of what i imagine the road and the other side of the hedge look like, but it was in Mac's equivalent of Microsoft paint, so I don't know how pretty it is. Regardless, the point of the illustration is that it is a terrible, mindless circle. There really isn't any point on either side of it. There has to be something higher, something more, something Other Than. Otherwise, it doesn't much matter which side we are on. We either sit and do nothing, or we run and do nothing. sounds fairly miserable to me.
ps- i also added the moat (in blue) for good measure.
I commented on amanda gaster's blog:)
I like your artwork Mallory! :) I agree with you, I would not like to live on the road or on the other side of the hedge. There must be something Other Than. Maybe that's why this is not totally an allegory of Christian faith. It has aspects of Christianity, but it stops short of paralleling it. Maybe this allegory shows life without Christ- a maddening, pointless circle. Whether you are on the road striving for nothing, or on the other side doing nothing except what brings pleasure... neither lead anywhere, so what is the point? For those who walk with Jesus there is another option... one that combines the road with the garden. Just a thought :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I am sure I don't want to be on either side of the hedge. I am to anxious for the road side, and I would go crazy on the green side.
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the comment you made on Amanda's blog, its actually why I came and read your blog. I appreciate that you recognize that while your worldview governs your decisions (and mine too since I am a Godlover) that some of the authors we will investigate don't necessarily agree, nor wrap their thoughts and conclusions into tiny boxes of awesomeness. Sometimes like you said they taunt our faith. Good thought.