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 negative attitude toward his experience of acquiring property through the use of biblical allusions, word choice, and the manipulation of sentences. This passage encourages us to think about the nature of materialism and the seductive power of our possessions. The use of Biblical allusions supports Forster’s point, and reveals his attitude on owning land. They point out what is perfectly obvious, yet is seldom realized: that if you have a lot of things you cannot move about a lot, that furniture requires dusting, dusters require servants, servants require insurance stamps, and the whole tangle makes you think twice before you accept an invitation to dinner or go for a bathe in the Jordan. ” Forster is indicating that while initially something may seem simple, a person should ‘think twice’ before they engage in anything that doesn’t seem right or strange. His attitude is rather obvious; Forster is pondering whether the purchasing of the wood will result in disastrous consequences.
The reference to the Jordan River is regarding to the river where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Forster is concluding that a person should think before they obligate themselves to something. His conscious is forcing him to realize the negative effects the wood has on him Owning property is not always a good thing, and Forster clarifies this through the manipulation of sentences. Forster gives indirect meaning to several of his sentences, such as; “My wood makes me feel heavy. ” He gives the sentence a subliminal meaning, and the reader must find out what Forster is implying.
He continues to elaborate on why his wood makes him feel heavy, and ends his paragraph again stating that his wood makes him feel heavy. The manipulation of sentences alluded to Forster’s belief of the wood being obviously dangerous to his entrance into heaven. He is saying that just because you own property doesn’t mean everything on the property is necessarily yours. Also he is saying that owning property makes people greedy so that they want more and nothing is ever sufficient. The use of negative word choice gives you a sense of what he feels towards his property.
Such as, “In the first place, it makes me feel heavy. ” This portrays that owning property has certain effects on the owner. Property can make you greedy and gluttonous [heavy]. “He was not wicked, that unfortunate millionaire….. ” I have never heard of an unfortunate millionaire. 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. ” Men of weight cannot, by definition, move like the lightning from the East unto the West…” This word choice delineates that if you have an abundance of things you can’t physically move.
