E. M. Foster

I must agree with Foster. The whole process of "One upping the Jones'" gets heavy as it builds, as well  as owning property. In terms of math, with each addition it squares itself. As the "need" for more stuff grows and grows, so does your collection of stuff.  It seems to me that property contributes to all seven sins in one way or another. Such accumulation causes Sloth, or being slow, Foster brings up this point at the end of the second paragraph. Greed is a no brainer, the want of more and more. Envy for someone else's stuff, as Foster thinks about "his" bird and Mrs Henessy.  The Pride one feels for his work, his property, is almost unmatched, Foster touches on this in his fifth paragraph.  Wrath to those who disturb your property, your Pride. "It is intersected, blast it, by a public footpath," that seems like Wrath to me, "blast it" is very powerful language. Lust goes together with Greed, property seems to give the owner a Lust for more, "Happy Canute! Happier Alexander!" This brings us to Gluttony, or getting fat. The owner of the wood near Lyme Regis has a good understanding of Gluttony, as he "gorges on the blackberries unseen."

All of this builds upon the basis of property and its correlation to the seven sins. The Seven Deadly Sins can all be caused from the owning of property, this begs the question: is owning property worth it? When everything about it can be bad, should it be allowed? Foster's point of heaviness is true indeed, but in that heaviness comes a form of satisfaction. I say owning property is good, even if there is such side effects.