Ownership In Forster's My Wood

Remember that first toy you had, whether it was a Hot Wheel Monster Truck or a special addition Barbie Doll? That toy meant the world to you. Where ever you went, the toy was right there. That toy meant so much that at times you wouldn’t let anyone else play with it, or yet, you got a little uneasy when someone even thought about asking whether they can come play with you. That toy also was a representation of your personality. You would want to show that you were more mature, so you would put bigger tires on your monster truck, or that you really liked a color so you changed the

Barbie Doll’s hair color to pink. No matter what happened, that toy was everything to you. But what was owning these toys turning us into, selfish and greedy children? These toys would

Ownership causes one to become selfish and so self-absorbed in their property that they wouldn’t allow other people to experience the joy they have through their property. In “My Wood,” Forster explains how uneasy he felt when he saw people walking through his woods and going to his blackberries. Because of the unease that he felt, Forster thought that in order to show people that the blackberries and his wood was his, he should build a pathway with high stone walls, blocking the view of the blackberries from the public, just like the wood near Lyme Regis, where people “circulate like termites while the blackberries are unseen.” Through the example,

Forster illustrates how the ownership of his wood causes him to become selfish and so self-absorbed in his property that he wouldn’t want people coming into his wood and experiencing the blackberries. We often time are just like Forster. We don’t really like it when other people use our property. For example, cars. We are a little skeptical when it comes to letting our family members or friends drive our cars, even if they know how to drive and have their license. Sure we don’t want them to damage the car, but it’s