Comparing My Wood And Who Owns The Mountains

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Why is it that a mere paper document can endow a human with ownership to a portion of the Earth just because one they it does? Edward Morgan Forster (author of “My Wood) and Henry Van Dyke (author of “Who Owns the Mountains?”) have unique perspectives on the effects of ownership and material possession exhibited by humans. On a similar note, a man by the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson reliably asserted that humans are in the habit of defining each other by their material belongings, which in turn provokes vices such as: Selfishness, Irresponsibility and Greed. The concept of owning property and material possession can be classified as a selfish pursuit. For example, E.M. Foster, the author of “My Wood”, commented that he only wanted his forest …show more content…

As aforementioned, when a person owns too many material items, their optimal level of responsibility is too extreme for them to handle. As a result, one may find that they are not responsible enough to maintain said possessions. For example, a wealthy person, such as Pompous Silverman, may find himself in the need of a maid or janitor to clean up after him because he owns so many materials objects that it makes him, “feel heavy” (My Wood) with obligation. This profound weight comes from the overwhelming responsibility that one experiences from possessing so many objects. But, because everyone has a different personality, and everyone has a different optimal level of responsibility, not everyone will have the same results. On the other hand, owning materials may also cause one to become responsible. This may be possible when one is in a state of ownership that is relatively less stressful and requires less responsibility. Possession may take a positive turn in making one more responsible, due to the fact that “..property makes its owner feel that he ought to do something to it. Yet he isn’t sure what” (My Wood). Nevertheless, the owner has an obligation; an urge to do something to one’s property. Accordingly, that very urge is a form of responsibility; since one would care about one’s belongings and feel an obligation to take care and reliably preserve them to the best of one’s

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