MY WOOD

২৪ শে সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১০ রাত ২:১২

My Wood Anaylsis

Forster is eccentrically delighted and crestfallen by his new purchased, “wood.” Forster interprets his new purchased “wood” is an indignity upon his principles. Forester is slightly contented with his “wood” because it’s the first piece of private estate he ever possessed. The writer believes that the freshly purchased “wood” is a burden upon him and brings him shame.

Forester is trying to analyze and explain the physiological effects of property on one’s self. Forester believes that owning land or anything of material wealth puts a burden or heavy weight upon one’s back. Forester deems that owning land has an unscrupulous influence upon one’s mentality. This can be interpreted as; if a man acquires monetary acquisition the man will go up the caste system, breeding a sense of arrogance upon those who are below him. Another way it can be interpreted is that it causes physiological mentality of never ending crave for more. The writer alludes to Tolstoy’s, “How much land does a man need,” in a gist that the main character always craved for more land and fell for the temptations of the devil, which ultimately led to his downfall.

Forester correspondingly alludes to the scriptural verse, Matthew 19:24 "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Forester describes to the reader in a sense that a camel can get into the eye of a needle, while a rich man who may have by no means spent his wealth in all the correct ways will never enter heaven. Wealth in Forester’s definition causes weight upon one’s back. Forester states that the rich man will never go to heaven because he accumulated wealth and didn’t expend it properly.

Forester explains that if you possess an abundance of possessions it makes it harder for mobility. This can be dissected in two different aspects; one aspect is a literal aspect, if one owns many things on one’s property it makes it harder to properly maneuver.

E.M. Forster’s attitude and feelings about “his wood” are subtly, yet intensely portrayed by using a variety of tones, including those of contemplation and intellect, sentence manipulation, and biblical allusions. Forster’s tone changes throughout this passage. It is contemplative at times, as well as intellectual. At the end of the first paragraph, Forster’s sentence manipulation emits an inquisitive, thoughtful quality. “If you own things, what’s there effect on you? What’s t







He makes mention of all the things necessary to "accept an invitation to dinner or go for a bathe in the Jordan" showing that property may act more as a burden than a luxury. Forster's biblical allusions make a better portrayal of his attitude on owning property. His use of biblical allusions also portrays his thoughts on a deeper, insightful manner. With his contemplative, yet intellectual tone, E. Because of his references to passages in the Bible, and how it is harder for a "heavy" man to get into heaven, he shows the reader his attitude toward property ownership by stating that his wood makes him feel heavy. His contemplations and realizations are portrayed throughout this passage through these methods. " Referring to the verse of Matthew 19:24, he shows the relationship between the rich man and himself. of my wood?" Here his interrogative statements portray a sense of inquiry, which then lead to a scholarly, philosophical tone. He also uses the gospels' coupling of stoutness and slowness to depict the responsibility it requires to maintain property. "Property produces men of weight, and it was a man of weight who failed to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. It becomes more intellectual when he begins to make biblical allusions and reflections on their relationship to his situation. Forster is able to portray his feelings about "his wood". He states that his property "makes me feel heavy", demonstrating his uncertainties and reservations which portray his overall attitude of the circumstances.

English writer E(dward) M(organ) Forster, best known today for the novels Howard's End and A Passage to India, was the author of several novels, two biographies, a book of criticism, and many essays and short stories. The essay "My Wood," first published in 1926, encourages us to think about the nature of materialism and the seductive power of our possessions. Compare Forster's thoughts on ownership with those expressed by Henry Van Dyke in his essay.

Annotation

1The British first came to India in 1608 and remained until 1947 when India was granted independence. The movement to gain independence was led by Mahata Ghandi whose primary tactic was civil disobedience. The book that Forster is alluding to is A Passage to India (1924).

2Matthew 19:24 "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

3 The Jordan is the river in which John the Baptist christened repentant sinners.

4Tolstoy is a Russian writer and philosopher, author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. This is an apparent reference to a short story by Tolstoy entitled "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

5A stone is a British unit of weight; 14 stone equals 196 pounds.

6Ahab -- "Ninth century B.C. Pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebell who, according to the Old testament, was overthrown by Jehu" (American)

7Canute -- "Known as “the Great.” 994?-1035. King of England (1016-1035), Denmark (1018-1035), and Norway (1028-1035) whose reign, at first brutal, was later marked by wisdom and temperance. He is the subject of many legends" (American).

8Alexander -- "Known as “Alexander the Great.” 356-323 B.C.. King of Macedonia (336-323) and conquerer of Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia. His reign marked the beginning of the Hellenistic Age" (American).Forester takes both Canute and Alexander as examples of men who were never content with the land they possessed, but who always wanted more. Alexander is sometimes described as having conqured all the known world, so vast had become his empire.

9Shakespeare -- William. "1564-1616. English playwright and poet whose body of works is considered the greatest in English literature. His plays, many of which were performed at the Globe Theatre in London, include historical works, such as Richard II, comedies, including Much Ado about Nothing and As You Like It, and tragedies, such as Hamlet, Othello, and King Lear. He also composed 154 sonnets. The earliest collected edition of his plays, the First Folio, contained 36 plays and was published posthumously" (1623) (American).

10A sonnet by William Shakespeare.

Th' Expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame11Dante A•li•ghie•ri -- "1265-1321. Italian poet whose masterpiece, The Divine Comedy (completed 1321), details his visionary progress through Hell and Purgatory, escorted by Virgil, and through Heaven, guided by his lifelong idealized love Beatrice" (American).

12Lyme Regis -- A resort city in the county of Dorset on the southwest coast of England.

13Dives -- "A man of great wealth. [Middle English, from Latin dºves" (American).

14Bolshies -- "Bol•she•vik -- A member of the left-wing majority group of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party that adopted Lenin's theses on party organization in 1903. b. A member of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party that seized power in that country in November 1917. c. A member of a Marxist-Leninist party or a supporter of one; a Communist. Also called Bolshevist. 2. Often bolshevik. An extreme radical: a literary bolshevik. [Russian Bol'shevik, from bol'she, comparative of bol'sho¹, large" (American). A key principle of the Communist Party was the abolution of private ownership of property. Industries were owned and run by the state. Individual farms were united into collectives.

“My Wood”, by E.M. Forster is a witty essay depicting Forster’s reaction to the ownership of a small estate he bought with the royalties from a novel he wrote. He cleverly discusses the effects the wood may have on him. Forster conveys a humorously negative attitude toward his experience of acquiring property through the use of biblical allusions, word choice, and the manipulation of sentences. Also he is saying that owning property makes people greedy so that they keep wanting more and nothing is ever sufficient. its is all about owning property and its effects. if you own property, first of all it makes you greedy and gluttonous. secondly, you want more and more till you achieve the unachievable. thridly,you wants to make show off of your property just to make sure your possession, fourthly, you becomes so selfish in possession that you can't benefit anyone else yourself

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