LS.8 MY WOODS - summary– E.M. FORSTER

LS.8 MY WOODS – E.M. FORSTER

INTRODUCTION:

Edward Morgan Forster is a famous English writer and is well known for his novels “Howard’s End” and “A Passage to India”. He was also the author of a book of criticism, some novels, two biographies, as well as many essays and short stories.

In 1912 he went to India where his observations and experiences gave him a lot of materials which he used lately writing his famous novel “A Passage to India” (1924). It is the book that he mentions about in the first paragraph of “My Wood.” Forester’s fiction works often describe the impact of social conventions on common human relationships.

The essay “My Wood,” was published in 1926 and it is still encourages readers to think about the essence of materialism and the seductive energy of human property.

The purpose of this essay is to show the effects produced by owning property. Using wit and humor, the author explains that obtaining land may not bring the uncomplicated happiness people might expect.

CONTENT:

“My Wood”, is a witty essay describing Forster’s opinion about the possession of a small property which the author bought with the royalties from his novel. He talks about the effects the wood makes on him. Forster shows a humorously negative attitude to his experience of obtaining land using biblical allusions, the manipulation of sentences and word choice.

In the essay “My Wood” by E. M. Forster is trying to tell us that we got to be careful because humans are selfish and once we got something we want, we will want more and more until we have lost full control; for example, in the essay they talk about the author buying a small piece of land. At first that small piece of land had an open road that the public can pass by and for the author that was enough and felt like home, but after a while the author kept looking right and left and realized that his land was the smallest land there and everyone else had gigantic lands with a lot of beautiful things. The author is trying to let us know that owning a piece of land makes the owner feel heavy and important; therefore, they start to wish for a larger piece of land. It also make the owner feel that he got to do something to it, and lastly he wants it all for him selves, so he wants to block the public path.

Once we got something we are going to want more until we have better things than anyone near us; therefore, the author toward the end wanted to build a tall fence to block the public from going inside his land. Also, once the author looks at his neighbors and sees something nice he will want something way better than what they have to show off. Owning a piece of land or something of your own can make you change completely who you are; therefore, I believe that I prefer to have nothing but people I love around me. For instance, the author is a perfect example of how people can let their ownership controls everything in their life such as his own family, and life. A person can become so obsesses with making their land unique, huge, and pretty that can totally forget about the few things that are important to him such as family, friends, and himself. When a people gets power they put it over everything such as creating debits to fix up the place or even risking their own home and children’s future for a simple obsession that is not worth it. A few of those people end up with nothing because their family will leave for his obsession, and lose the land that changed him because of the debits.

CONCLUSION:

Forster clearly explains that even if something may seem simple, a person should think several times before he decides to be engaged in any endeavor. The attitude of the author is understandable; he is contemplating if the owning of the wood will result in dire consequences. Forster makes a conclusion, telling that a person should think many times before he obligate himself to something. His ideas are forcing him to see and accept the negative influence of the wood on him.