Before I say my peace about "The Other Side of the Hedge", I would like to give a shout-out to Ms. Bethany Bear for leading us in a very productive and thoughtful class discussion. It would be poor desicion and lack of vision to not have her on board as one of the Lit. Professors. Kudos, Ms. BB.
As far as the text goes, I noticed something about it that I didn't the first time I read it. Isn't it ironic how the turn of events played out for the narrator? He starts off by giving us the impression that he was happy that he did not end up like his brother. He claims to have walked more wisely. The idea to notice here is how the rest of the story plays out. When the narrator gets to the other side of the hedge, he continually sees the people of the other side singing. The fact that there was a man to help him through this new area for most of the remainder of the story leads me to wonder if this was intentional of Forster. Then at the end, we notice that the narrator is being aided by the very person he went left behind in pursuit of a "wiser" travel, his brother...
p.s. I commented on Susan's Life on the Road.
I definitely see the irony in this. The constant search for something better in this world is how we ultimately look for God. This struck me on a more personal level because that is how I was before I became a Christian, always searching for for more.
ReplyDeleteIrony is great!!! I love the fact that his "savior" was the man he shunned. I may be looking too deep into this, but that seems like an allusion to Christ to me.
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