The Other Boat was written by EM Forster and published two years after this death. The story is about a man who is on a journey to meet a woman whom the reader can assume to be his fiancé or wife. On this boat, Lionel, the man on the journey, meets up with one of his old friends. The old friend, Coconut, is in the same cabin as Lionel and the two have sex with one another. In the end, Lionel kills himself. Lionel kills himself because he possibly feels remorse for sleeping with Coconut, he also may have felt remorse for killing Coconut. However, if Lionel did not feel bad for his actions, then he wouldn’t have killed Coconut and he wouldn’t have killed himself. Humans are moral beings who know right from wrong. Some could argue that morality is learned and not something someone is born with. Never the less, this character most likely knew that he did something wrong. It is interesting to note that Forster did not publish this story himself. It was published after his death. Forster most likely knew that publishing this story would bring bad publicity to himself and his book. He may have even been afraid that publishing this story could have him thrown in jail like another author. According to Kate Symondson she states: “In 1895, when Forster was 16, Oscar Wilde was sensationally sentenced to two years of hard labor (the maximum sentence) for homosexual acts. As well as cementing the unacceptability of homosexuality in the popular consciousness, the imprisonment of London’s most famous and loved author read like a cautionary tale to Forster, casting a long shadow over his sexual maturation and identity” (2016). While my views on homosexuality are not necessary for this blog, it is important to note a quote from Susan Chun, a writer for CNN. She writes, “Philosophers and psychologists have long believed that babies are born "blank slates," and that it is the role of parents and society to teach babies the difference between right and wrong; good and bad; mean and nice. But a growing number of researchers now believe differently. They believe babies are in fact born with an innate sense of morality, and while parents and society can help develop a belief system in babies, they don't create one” (2014). This quote argues that morality is something that humans are born with and that it may not be something learned. Society may not have formed Forster’s morality, but was something he was born with. It is possible that Forster chose not to publish his work because of morality (he knew homosexuality was wrong) or because of fear (he didn’t think it was wrong, but didn’t want to get caught) The fact that Forster did not publish this story based on either his morality or fear is something that we will never know. References: https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-literature/articles/e-m-forsters-gay-fiction https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/12/us/baby-lab-morals-ac360/index.html Photo Credit: Flickr Word Count: 481
3 Comments
Kayla Keeling
6/2/2019 07:09:32 pm
The reference to Oscar Wilde is a great example of why Forster would have hesitated to publish this piece, as some areas are a little on the 50 shades side. As I mentioned in my blog for Hymn to Prosperpine famous mathematician Alan Turing was prosecuted for homosexual acts. Even though his mind was brilliant and quite possibly could be why the war ended when it did, he had to live in fear.
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6/4/2019 05:11:16 pm
I don't know if one talking head from CNN is enough to definitively declare an end to the Nature v. Nurture debate. I also don't know if it's justifiable logic to say that someones concealment of something is an implicit acknowledgment of that same things immorality. One thing I do know is this- for Forster to have such fleshed out, dimensional characters, in a short story no less, is a pretty clear indication that he believed in the internal complexity of non-heteronormative peoples and wanted to explore that complexity in the social framework of his time beyond just determining whether or not it was a binary of right and wrong. I don't think anyone would be able to write a Shakespearean level romantic drama about loss and self-identity and shame if they were still struggling internally to determine whether or not the aforementioned romance was even valid at all. I think that by fixating on your own projected morals and politics you're robbing yourself of the true depth of the narrative.
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Shelby Prenger
6/4/2019 07:39:00 pm
Hi Jacob! It's very interesting that the story was published after Forster's death, I had not known that previously to reading the story. I appreciate you pointing ut what happened to Oscar Wilde, and that perhaps seeing what happened to him made Forster hesitant to publish the story himself. I noticed that shame was a big theme in the story, so I think that may have something to do with his hesitance to publish it. But as you stated, that is an answer we will never receive.
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AuthorMy name is Jake and I am a student at WSU and will hopefully graduate in the next year. I hope to then get a teaching liscence and become an English teacher. This blog is for my British Literature class where I will post reviews for the assigned readings. ArchivesCategories |
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