In the short story, “The Other side of the Hedge” by E.M.

Forster, he depicts a man’s struggle

toward an ultimate goal of heaven, with the hedge representing his passage to the afterlife, and
the use of water to symbolize his purification; therefore, his brother helps him enter a state of
happiness, so he can accept his own death. His journey into the afterlife is difficult due to his
unwillingness to give up his need for competition. Moreover, symbolic metaphors, such as the
hedge and water, introduce the man to his new life where his self-realization contradicts his new
environment. Nevertheless, with the help of his brother, he notices that the road straight ahead
has no ending and that all things reach an ultimate end, death. From this he realizes death
doesn’t necessarily lead to the end of his life, but the start of a new beginning.

The main character’s desire for competition enables him to continue the journey, without the
realization of its outcome. The figure in the story persistently tries to find the end of the road by
never giving up. I found it difficult walking for I was always trying to out-distance my companion,
and there was no advantage in doing this if the place led nowhere. Is said by the man when he
comprehends where the road eventually leads to and understands that the road has no exit. All
the man believes is that there is a presence of fate, he must reach, regardless of the
circumstances. This inner competition within himself drives him to achieve his goal of
happiness, unaware that the trip he is taking leads to death.

Themes and Symbols

The story is about a man's life journey. In the beginning we see this man in a competing mode,
he is running his life and competing against everyone around him. In this fable the narrator
states, “At first I Thought I was going to be like my brother, whom I had to leave by the roadside
a year or two round the corner. He had wasted his breath on singing, and his strength on
helping others (Crane, 38).” He believed he had lived his life better than his brother, and that his
decisions were wiser, therefore he had a more satisfying way of looking back. Abandoning the
journey on the road symbolizes death because the people in the story who abandon their
journey never return. In the story, the narrator travels on a long, dusty road that seems to have
no end. He tells about the other people of the road, discussing the possessions that they
wanted to carry with them. Some of these people gave up on their journey, leaving their
properties behind collecting dust. Forster's intensions seem to be to show us the transition from
life on earth to life in heaven.

On the other hand, most symbols Forster uses within the story represent life. One key symbol
that Forster mentions a number of times is the long dusty road. The endless road represents the
long and challenging journey of life. The people in the story must travel on the road even though
it never ends and leads them nowhere. At first, they carry as many possessions with them as
possible, but in the end they leave them behind; as his journey becomes more difficult we start
seeing a change in his attitude. The narrator says, “The road behind was strewn with the things
we had all dropped; and the white dust was settling down on them, so that already they looked
no better than stones (Crane, 39).” Eventually, he realizes how insignificant his possessions are,
and how heavy they seem to be getting, he starts losing the strength to carry them with him and
that the journey will be easier without them. This is similar to real life, because the people with
fewer possessions often live happier, simpler lives than those who own many things.

Another significant symbol he uses in this story is the hedge. The narrator uses the hedge to
symbolize the border that passes from life to death. In the story the narrator says, “A little puff of
air revived me. It seemed to come from the hedge; and, when I opened my eyes, there was a
glint of light through the tangle of boughs and dead leaves (Crane 39).” The narrator's spree
through the hedge is a cleaning of all his possessions that he does not need in order to pass
thru the other side. He describes the hedge to have thorns that scratched his face and his arms
as he used them as shields to protect him, he tells us how everything he carried was scraped of
him and his clothes were torn, but he was so wedged up that it was impossible for him to go
back. This represents the challenges we face in our lives; not everything is easy and there will
always be a difficult path ahead of us. It will be our own choice to decide if we want to push
ahead to find what is on the other side awaiting for us, even if it means leaving everything we
know behind and trying to start a new life.

Once he passed through the hedge, the narrator immediately falls into water. The narrator
states, “Suddenly cold water closed down my head, and I seemed sinking down for ever. I had
fallen out of the hedge into a deep pool. I rose to surface at last, crying for help”. At this moment
he has passed to the other side, the water represented his new and clean beginning, all his
impurities were gone and he was ready to embark his new journey. His body is no longer
covered with dust from his journey on the road. He has moved on to a different stage in life,
where there is no turning back. He was rescued by a man who seemed to be 60 years old but
his voice was one of 18 years old. When he asked his rescuer where did that place lead to, his
answer was, nowhere, thank the lord! I believe this meant that he was finally at a place where
time did not matter. A place where distance was infinite and where there was no worries
anymore. He was in heaven, and the moment he realized he was dead, was when he
recognized his rescuer to be his brother.
In conclusion E.M. Forster's use of symbolism in The Other Side of the Hedge represents his
belief that the journey toward heaven is easier when one is a humble person and does not get
attached to the materialistic world that we live in. A person that has fewer belongings and does
good things for others will live a better and more satisfying life. When the main character drifts
from the road, he starts a symbolic journey into heaven. The hedge strips him of his valuable
goods and the water cleanses him preparing him for the new life to come.