Colloquium on English - Research Institute for Waldorf Education

18
Student Response:
In our lives there are many boundaries we must face. Boundaries
come in many forms. Some boundaries we create for ourselves, some are
created for us; there are boundaries that keep us out, and some that keep us
in. Perhaps the most prevalent of boundaries are physical and mental boundaries.
Despite the differences between each of the boundaries they have one
thing in common – beyond is the unknown.
In An Imaginary Life Ovid is banished from Rome and forced to live
on the edge of the world. He has physically crossed from his old life; a mountain
range acts as his boundary. Yet mentally Ovid does not seem to have
stepped over. He still lives in his Roman life, showing disdain for the town
and its inhabitants. At the outset, it does not seem as though Ovid crossed
the boundary when he stood at it.
When I recognize a boundary, however, I begin to speculate as to
what is beyond it. For example, when I was five, I shared a room with my
sister. From the very beginning she made it clear I was not allowed on her
half of the room. Being the younger sister I was, I decided I would cross over
and steal one of her stuffed animals. I thought about every detail of that
room, from what her side of the curtain looked like to how loud her cupboard
would squeak when I opened it. I hadn’t crossed the boundary physically,
but I’d certainly done it in my head.
From the first time Ovid hears of the boy he begins to cross the
boundary between them. He knows he must meet the boy and civilize him.
The boy too, has a similar experience; he is building himself up for more
contact, a real crossing over. However, before he can even stand at the boundary,
he is dragged over it.
In life there are many boundaries we know we are going to cross.
Our whole existence seems to be leading up to these crossing points. Tying
our shoes, learning to drive a car – these crossings are the natural progression
of growing up. We are always standing on the edge of these boundaries.
Ovid experiences this near the end of the book; “Is-ter, Is-ter. It has been
there always, somehow waiting, even as my eye noted it on maps, as the final
boundary of my life, waiting to be crossed, and patient year after year for my
arrival.” (136)
The land beyond the Ister River is flat, wide-open, spacious, boundary
less. Ovid knows that by crossing the Ister, he has come to his resting
place, freedom. There are no more boundaries left for him to cross except
physically dying. Ovid accepts this readily; death is a mental boundary and
he has definitely crossed it.
It seems that by crossing the Ister Ovid has crossed into his afterlife,
the key word being life, for he truly lives.
For every boundary I cross in life there is always another waiting just
beyond it. It is a never-ending cycle that makes life interesting, yet prevents
total freedom.