Ethan Frome Essay

In the poem “Hitcher”, Armitage examines the disappointments of the speaker who is about to lose his job and who is under pressure conforming to society’s expectations, and his frustration with life. Armitage portrays the theme of isolation using some lexical choices which carry negative connotations such as “tired”, “fired”, “under the weather”, emphasizing the amount of pain he suffers from being threatened with losing his job and not having any purposes in life. Armitage adopts a defeated and frustrated tone to illustrate the frustration, isolation and anger which contribute to the speaker’s internal sufferings. The defeated, frustrated tone of the speaker in the poem is presented through a series of lexical choices which carry connotations of negative emotions. These words form a semantic field of frustrated emotions and the reason why the writer has done this is to try to suggest that the speaker is very disturbed and threatened. “I’d been tired” evokes sympathy from the readers. It is colloquial which underlines realism with a lack of imagery in the poem. “Under the weather” can be inferred as the speaker not feeling well. It doesn’t only mean that he doesn’t feel well in a physical way, it also implies that he mood is not very good, echoes with “I’d been tired” and “fired”. These aren’t convincing, though “weather” has an

Mark Twain utilizes imagery through the use of adjectives and distinct descriptions. For example, he describes how the brick houses were falling apart and made “...heavy grinding noise as of brick houses rubbing together,” but then Twain redirects the reader's’ attention towards himself when he mentions that he “fell against the frame house” and hurt his elbow. Twain made the earthquake seem less serious to his readers by mentioning his minor injury after the buildings collapsing. Instead of continuing with the topic of how terrifying the earthquake was or the fact that people were suffering from major injuries or possibly dying, Twain decides to mention his minor elbow pain. Moreover, he also changes the focus towards the high-class’s uncouth

Because of the setting in this novel the activities in Starkfield are sparse. For many citizens there is little to do because the heavy snow falls keep the citizens in with lack of transportation. The activities they do are mostly during the spring which is extremely short, consisting only of a few weeks or possibly

To show that man is surrounded by good and evil no matter where they are, Steinbeck describes the setting in a contrasting way to represent the good side and the bad side of nature. He

The novel Ethan Frome is a short story packed with detail. It takes place in Starkfield and is about a farmer named Ethan Frome. Ethan made poor decisions because he was trapped living with two women; his wife, Zeena, and his wife’s cousin, Mattie. Ethan fell in love with Mattie. When Ethan and Mattie fell in love, they made a horribly rash choice making this novel a tragedy. A tragedy in literature is wherewhen a main character or hero suffers a downfall because of a character flaw, error in judgement, or forces beyond human control. The short novel, Ethan Frome, written by Edith Wharton, is a tragedy because of Ethan Frome’s character flaws, errors in judgement and the forces beyond his control.

“There was no way out- none. He was a prisoner for life, and now his one ray of light to be extinguished”(Wharton 29). Miserable routines caused by terrible occurrences trappes Ethan Frome every single day. Edith Wharton opposes the idea of following any routine. Wharton expresses that routines and cycles prevent a person from expressing their own desires or achieving their personal goals in life. These cycles prohibit a person from seeing changes within their environment and possible opportunities that could improve their life. Even if a person breaks free from a routine, an endless amount of reasons exist to pull them back in. Ethan Frome momentarily escapes from his daily routine to pursue his education, but not far into this break he has to return in order to help his family. Ethan Frome somehow found a way out of his miserable routine, but failed to take that exit; resulting in a life much worse than before. Finding a way out seems like a reasonable solution to escape bad situations, but taking such a great risk to completely change one’s entire life, seems nearly impossible for any citizens of Starkfield. In the novella, Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton exemplifies how routines deny a person from reaching their full potential through the constant pull Ethan and other members of Starkfield receive to follow their normal, average routine and not follow their desires.

The Novella of Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome, is a tragedy. Ethan Frome suffered tragedy because of his character flaws, errors in his judgment, and forces beyond his control. Ethan Frome married a woman, Zeena, he was lonely and not truly in love with her. When her cousin, Maddie comes to live with them Ethan becomes infatuated with her. When Maddie has to leave, Ethan and Maddie decide to kill themselves so they never would have to leave one another. In the novella of Edith Wharton, Ethan Frome, Ethan is a unique character who suffers a downfall due to character flaws, and errors in judgment, and most important forces beyond human control to in which he gains wisdom.

To begin the story, strong figurative language in the form of a simile, is already being used in order to describe the mood of the setting that the characters are in. David and his father are in an enourmous bank. David describes his surroundings by saying, “Men and women streamed out as if the room were some enormous beast pulsing with a lifeblood of people and cash” (Sanderson 1). This helps the reader obtain a sense in how large the bank was and how many people were in it, completely oblivious to the outside world. David continues to construe the bank and all its elements while

Ethan being very needy marries Zeena, and once she turns cold, Ethan suffers. Ethan had been very lonely, living with his sickly mother.

In addition, Steinbeck utilizes symbolism to help reveal his message to the audience. In this chapter, the putrefying crops that resulted from the system’s agricultural mismanagement represent the landowner’s greed, and how it is responsible for not only the

Balance and stability are necessary for humans as individuals and without these, individuals will face chaotic circumstances. In the novel, the father of the protagonist, Ed Boone, is an example of a character that

When Harmon states that Ethan has been in the town of Starkfield too many winters leads to the narrator finding out that Starkfield and the town members become emotionally buried under the snow covered blanket of Starkfield?s winters. Winter in Starkfield is depressing and cold and it seems to rub off on the residents of the town. People of the town say he is cold and depressing, simply because he has been in Starkfield too many winters.

Another ironic element of the sledding ride is the appearance of Zeena’s face, Ethan’s wife, during the scene. Ethan and Mattie are speeding down the hill towards the elm to what they believe will be their deaths. In one of the last instants before they reach the tree, Zeena’s face appears to Ethan. “But suddenly his wife’s face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal, and he made an instinctive movement to brush it aside”. Ethan seems not to have thought about the effects his death would have on his wife, but this sudden image of his wife suggests that he feels guilty. It is ironic that he uses phrases such as “sullen self-absorption” and “evil energy” to describe his wife. Yet, she is the last person he imagines before he reaches the elm. This moment is one last time that he must brush her aside, as he attempts to break free from Zeena forever.

Tom Wingfield and Ethan Frome are both intellectual dreamers who live in stifling, hopeless conditions. Ethan gave up his dreams of becoming an engineer due to his duty to care for his ailing parents, and later Zeena. Similarly, Tom writes poetry, reads literature, follows European politics, and dreams of escaping from his current circumstances. Just as Ethan never fulfills his dream of becoming an engineer, Tom is trapped in his job at a warehouse to support his family. Both of these characters desire a life that is more exciting and fulfilling than the one they currently have. The difference between Tom and Ethan is that while Ethan stays with Zeena in Starkfiled, Tom leaves his family in St. Louis. Ethan is a highly passive character, relying

There are more significant symbols in the novel such as The Boy. The Man and Boy fight to survive many hardships, but through the darkness there is light, The Boy. He is very mature and cares for every stray person they pass. One person he cares for is a man named Ely, an old man with nothing but the clothes on his back, until he meets The Boy and his father." 'You should thank him you know, I wouldn’t have given you anything' "(McCarthy 173). The Boy wants everyone to survive and is willing to share his supplies even if it means he won`t have all the things he needs to live.