E. M. Forster's Impossible Gift in Howards End  

Oleh:

Huang, Chien-jung

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Fu jen studies: literature & linguistics no. 47 (2014), page 61-86.
Topik: Gift; Deconstruction; Human Relations; Contradiction; Aporia; Differance

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Perpustakaan Pusat (Semanggi) Nomor Panggil: FF10 Non-tandon: 1 (dapat dipinjam: 0) Tandon: tidak ada

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This study aims to decipher the contradictory vision of human relations E. M. Forster presents in Howards End through a comparative study between Ruth Wilcox's bequest and Jacques Derrida's impossible gift. It argues that the baffling disjunction between Forster's avowed intention for human reconciliation and his undermining of its accomplishment in action is already foreshadowed by Ruth's bequest of Howards End to Margaret Schlegel, which is employed to structure his inquiry but is unusually made into an intangible gift and said to be absolutely given without expectation of any restitution. To unravel the mystery underlying Forster's unusual arrangement, Derrida's distinction between gift and economy (exchange) proves illuminating. It helps us discern that, by this bequest, Forster is formulating a contrast between the logic of true gift, a gift without restitution in any form, and that of economy, which is founded on a reciprocal gift-and-debt relation and thus is at odds with the semantic meaning of gift. Moreover, Derrida's exposition of the self-annulment of the gift because of its incompatible yet co-implicating relation with economy also sheds light on Forster's contradictory position to simultaneously affirm and deny Ruth's appeal to give, which is disclosed to be a symptom of his entrapment in a double bind engendered by a similar heterogeneous relation between these two orders. Consequently, Ruth's gift, similar to Derrida's, is structurally annulled and rendered differant since it can only be attempted through the detour of economy, its negation. As Derrida's study of the gift deconstructs a rational, symmetrical relation between the giver and the receiver, Forster is also opposed to a programmed, well calculated relation to the other. Rooted in their common response to the differing and dying aspect of reality, these striking correspondences demonstrate that the contadiction perpetuated in foster's inquiry is actually a manifestation of his deconstructive endeavor to strive for a true relation to the other even it if is structurally impossible due to an irresolvable internal contadiction exemplified by ruth's gift.

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