Essay 11

Madeline

English 9

Mr. Salsich

December 15, 2009

Reversed Worlds:

An Essay about E. M. Forster's "The Other Side of the Hedge"

In some places of the world, a wet season brings water surging up above the banks of rivers and streams with a deluge of rain and life. In these places, during the dry season, the rivers and streams are dry, void of life, thirsty. In E. M. Forster's "The Other Side of the Hedge," two near opposite lifestyles exist, just as the wet and dry seasons are opposites. The tiresome, dry road and the relaxed, lush "other side" are present in my life, as well as Forster's story.

TS The "road" and "the other side of the hedge" are as different as night and day in the story. SD The dry, dusty land of the road is bland, tiring, and stressful. CM The road is "dusty under foot, with brown crackling hedges on either side as far as the eye could reach," and the people of the road carry heavy loads as they forge ahead towards an unknown goal, never stopping to enjoy the journey itself. CM The combination of the monotonous, arid, tedious, interminable (catalog of modifiers) environment and the nagging anxiety about the need to keep moving forward made the road a seemingly very uncomfortable place; it is no surprise that the narrator was thirsty for something different when he scrambled through the hedge. SD On the other side of the hedge, life is contrasting with that of the road. CM The landscape is lush and green, with "clean, bare buttresses, with beech trees in their folds, and meadows and clear pools at their feet." CM The people on the other side of the hedge are not rushed or competitive; they act simply, to please themselves or to help those around them, with no thoughts of advancement or achievement. CS The two lifestyles on either side of the hedge are near opposites; while one side is dry and demanding, the other is refreshing and easy.

TS I almost always live on the road, but I dream of living on the other side. SD My life is filled to the brim with things to do, and I hardly have enough time to pack everything into one day before I fall lifeless into bed, only to then lie there awake, worrying about another hectic day on the horizon. CM My education and my friends and family are like the dust of Forster's road; they fill up my life, and their overwhelming presence can make me feel like I am choking. CM I am always rushing to finish something, get somewhere, or find someone, and I hardly ever encounter those precious moments of nothing, when I am free from the burdens, responsibilities, and expectations that are always pressing me down and tying me up. SD In the future, when I have finished school, I hope to live on the other side of the hedge. CM Right now, I try to practice for this dream lifestyle by doing my best to stay calm when my life is especially tumultuous, and by trying not to be selfish or self-centered. CM I long to live in that world of flourishing harmony, and hopefully, my grueling days on the road will be over when I graduate from college. CM I want to live my adult life in contented comfort, helping others and doing what I enjoy, like playing the piano or swimming or lying still in a field to watch the clouds and birds go past. CS I look forward to the day when I can leap from the dry, cracked road, where parched air sits stagnant, to the place where it is green and bright and the air flows softly, and there is water everywhere (adjectival color an clarity); I want to jump from busy blindness into peaceful awareness.

In the dry season of some places, the Earth calls out for water for its dehydrated soil, and the skies answer with torrents of rain. Just as these wet and dry seasons are so different, the two ways of life in "The Other Side of the Hedge" are also quite contrasting. Everyone on the road is rushing to nobody knows where, and life is exhausting and boring, while on the other side, everything is bursting with life and water and energy and calm. In school, I'm always busy, always on the road, but someday, I will find my way to the other side of the hedge.