Quarrel & Quandary left me confused the first time I read it. My initial impression was that Cynthia Ozick’s objection to the remarks of E. M. Forster was excessively negative. Shouldn’t a public intellectual write or speak about whatever he or she chooses? I came away with a different perspective after rereading the article. One statement that influenced this change in my thinking is, “…it is not sufficient to have beautiful thoughts while the barbarians rage on” (124). Ozick goes on to say, “The responsibility of intellectuals includes also the recognition that we cannot live above or apart from our own time and what it imposes upon us; that willy-nilly we breathe inside the cage of our generation, and must perform within it” (125). Rather than avoid or dance around an issue, a public intellectual must be willing to ask questions, take a stand, and speak out. This is what E. M. Forster failed to do. Acting as a public intellectual involves a level of risk.
January 15, 2007
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