Literature Network » E.M. Forster

Guided by intimates. (proxy decision-making for terminally ill patients)

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From: The Hastings Center Report
Date: 19930901
Author:Nelson, Hilde Lindemann; Nelson, James Lindemann

E.M. Forster's novel Howard's End might be seen as a parable of proxy decisionmaking that underscores the need for the sort of proposal Linda and Ezekiel Emanuel make. The book is full of salutary warnings against relying on families to be good stewards of the interests of their incapacitated members. When the dying Mrs. Wilcox bequeaths her beloved home to Margaret Schlegel, an acquaintance she has become fond of, the Wilcox family actually suppresses the old lady's last will and testament rather than allow the house, Howard's End, to pass to an outsider. Things do turn out all ...

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