Most people read stories and don’t really pay attention to the meaning the author is trying to point towards. In the story The Other Side of The Hedge, you can tell what the deeper meaning is from the quotes and main points that are said during the conversation between the main character and the “Old Man”. I feel like this story describes a setting of toady's world and how people are living day-to-day lives on an old dusty meaningless road. This implies back to the start of the story where it says the main character is running on this old dusty road. The main character then gets out of breath so much that it hurts and he decides to sit for a moment. When he does he then feels this puff of air that revives him; this reminds me of the Bible reference …show more content…
He then wakes up cold and wet in a river; such like being reborn and then he is then greeted by the “Old Man”. During this part of the story the main character keeps denying the old man and talks about the other side of the hedge while the old man tells him that the race he came from is meaningless. The old man shows him the gates that's “As white as ivory, which was fitted into a gap in the boundary of the hedge.”, implying that are the gates of heaven. The main character sees the road through the gate and says, “that's my road.”, and the old man says, “but not your part of the road. It is through this gate humanity went out countless ages ago, when it was first seized with the desire to walk.”. This to me is a metaphor saying that humanity gave up and chose to ignore the word of God when we had the want to walk away from him. There is a common theme to the story that consists of denial and prevenient grace meaning that the main character keeps denying as the old man keeps showing him the greatness of this place he is at and not saying you can just go if you …show more content…
Through the rest of the story you can see how the main character doesn't trust the “countryside”, which is portrayed to be heaven. He didn't want to interact with the people there and when they gave him things he would throw it away when he was unseen. He was so insecure about the happiness of the people from the countryside and the place was too good to be true. When he saw a new bridge form over the moat he ran to it and was disquieted from the sight of the dusty road and the dead bushes from where he came. Then a man came from the gate leading to the other side carrying a scythe and a jar of some liquid. The main character takes the jar and drinks the liquid as he says, “It was nothing stronger than beer, but in my exhausted state it overcame me in a moment.” Then as in a dream the old man shuts the gate and says, “This is where your road ends, and through this gate humanity—all that is left of it—will come to us.”. Then as the main character is being laid down to sleep gently by a man he notices that it is his
This is his low point, his personal hell. At this point, he even considers not uncovering himself and allowing the easy death to occur. For such a logical and even-headed man, this is a particularly extreme thought. But he eventually finds the willpower to hoist himself out of the grave to once again take up the road. Finally, he gets to the house and restores order to his metaphysical kingdom, coming to terms with many of his thoughts.
This quote is important because it is saying the hardship might beat him down but he will never bow his head and let it win him over. He is basically saying he will not let failure be an
The time period this work takes place in is a very gloomy and frightening time. He wakes up in a dark place by himself and in fear, which makes things worse. A common theme we can relate this dark place to is when we fall off of the path of God. Since God represents all things good, the dark is the exact opposite. Since everything is not so clear in the wood he his describing, the path back to God is even more difficult to attain.
As from any reader, perspective is key and is different from everyone else. From my own perspective, I see two sides of who the speaker might be. The poem stated “When I stepped out like a man of God”(10) concludes that the speaker might be a priest which actually ties the whole poem together. Initially, I had thought the speaker might’ve been a man who lost a significant person in his life and blaming God for taking that person away, however it’s the priest who is closed off from the outside and can not judge but simply believe that God’s plan is right, even when it doesn’t seem right. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker referenced the song “I Want to Be More Like Jesus” by Keith Green, the song talks about how Jesus can live with all the sin and how he handles it so well, and Green wants to be like Jesus because he can’t bare to deal with all the sin he’s endured. This song relates heavily to the poem because the priest sees with his naked eye of all the sin that is out in the world and he can’t do anything about it which adds on a lot of weight onto his morals and
By then there was no more land to be claimed and America had built up
Life is not a bed of roses. People use this expression to stress the fact that there are and will be difficulties in life. John Steinbeck, in his novella Of Mice and Men, does not fall short of the same views. It takes place in the year 1937, a period associated with the Great Depression, and illustrates the hardships of the time, and more so those that laborers such as George and Lennie experience. Life proves to be full of disappointments for both men who are victims of harsh circumstances in more ways than one. The two have a dream to own a farm of their own but circumstance and fate robs them of their dream for a better life. This is a depiction of the lost American Dream during the Great Depression which lasts between 1929 up to the 1940s. The poem titled “This Is Not The Life” further depicts the hardships found in life. It clearly portrays the uncertainty and struggle associated with living during the Great Depression. Thus, both the novella and the poem explain that human dreams for a great future are subject to circumstance and fate, which most of the time collude against human success in life leaving only a trace of broken dreams, pain and misery.
has the mental age of a child and does not see the reason why George
.The novel Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck. In Soledad, California during the Great Depression in the 1930's two men of the one named George and the other named Lennie were men who travel around working at ranches. George is the small, quick-witted one, and Lennie is the big, slow, dumb and extremely strong one. They have a dream, to have a little place all to themselves, without anyone bothering them. Their dreams are shattered though, when Lennie, who doesn't know his own strength, gets in trouble. In the pursuit of love, happiness and the American dream, man becomes a victim of his own circumstances and discovers that the good life becomes impossible for humanity to obtain and contains many flaws. Lennie and George represents Cain and Able a biblical story who were two brothers searching for their elusive dream. In the story of Cane and Abel ,Cane was to take care of Able .Both brothers were to prepare and offering to God to receive His blessing. When God came to look upon that offering God asked Cane were is Abel .In curiosity and furiousness Cane asked God" Am I my brothers keeper?" Just like in the story of Cane and Abel ,George is Lennies keeper ,George is consistently watching over Lennie no matter where they go .In the story of Cane and Abel,Cane was furious with God because God had asked of his brother .Cane prepared his offering just for the fact of the knowledge that he was to receive blessings in return.Those who are more able should take care of those who are not able to complete tasks in life.But in order in being capabable of doing that one must have patience and faith in that matters and struggles that a person has to go throught with one other.In similarity Geor...
This is a novella written by John Steinbeck in 1937, about two men that lived during the depression. They were migrant workers, who wanted to buy a farm. ()
from under his feet,he starts to think of alternative ways in which he can be saved from
Man needs companionship and has difficulty maintaining it because no humans think the exact same or have the exact same beliefs. To maintain a companion you must have things in common, you must be able to disagree with a sort of respectful understanding, and finally you must care legitimately about that person. These three requirements to preserve a companionship are at times arduous to keep true. Some people do not have the time, concern, or the ability to sustain a veritable friendship with a companion or companions.
The valley is described as a “desolate” place where “ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills into grotesque gardens”. (21) Ashes that dominate the area take the shape of natural greenery. The term “grotesque gardens” uses alliteration, with juxtaposition; to highlight the odd pairing of ashes and greenery. Ashes are associated with death while ridges and “gardens” represent the potential to flourish and grow in the promise and ideal of equality as in “the trees that had made way for Gatsby’s house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams.” (143) The trees that once stood here were able to speak to man’s dreams, which allude to America, the land able to speak to man’s dreams and capacity for wonder. All this is replaced by grey ash that suffocates the inhabitants, restricting them to their social class. This presents a bleak image of hopelessness that surrounds the valley.
He stands a long time at the meeting of the two roads and looks down one path as far as he can but it disappears in the ‘undergrowth’ as it takes a bend
After reading the first few paragraphs, The Other Side of the Hedge, by E. M. Forster, seems to be nothing more than a story about a man walking down a long road. The narrator's decision to go through the hedge transforms the story into an allegory that is full of symbols representing Forster's view of the journey of life. The author develops the allegory through the use of several different symbols including the long road, the hedge and the water.
...s the movie ends with the sun coming out over the rainy gate, one cannot help but to feel as confused and lost as the characters at the opening lines of the film when they intoned their total incomprehension of the situation. Although the woodcutter seems to redeem himself of the perfidy of (possibly) stealing the dagger by adopting a baby left under the gate, the movie is never resolved. While faith is restored that men can also be good (a central question throughout the film) we are never any the wiser as to what was real. That is the whole point of the movie; we are never shown what is real because we will never know.