Freedom And Symbolism In Zeena, By Ethan Wharton

The main character engages in a fight against nature, this can only be described as external conflict. An example from the novel to illustrate this is, “Standing in the freezing mound that was thickening around his numb feet, Jonas opened his own tunic, held Gabriel to his bare chest, and tied the torn and dirty blanket around them both…. The rapidly deepening snow obscured the narrow road and made the ride impossible.” The low temperature, paired with quickly falling snow and high winds, was something the two children had never experienced before. Prior to their escape, they lived in sameness, where the climate was comfortable and identical all year round. Jonas and his surrogate brother fought not only for warmth, but also for survival, as they trudged through mounds of snow. Due to lack of shelter or warm clothing, their weakened bodies became susceptible to frostbite, illness, and death. Without the remaining memories of warmth and Jonas’ determination, their effort against the elements may have cost them their

The key role in many novels generally is the setting, it helps the author reveal and reinforce characterization and theme. Edith Wharton uses setting in Ethan Frome to help bring out characterization and theme by the isolated life of Ethan Frome and the village in New England as well as the winter landscape surrounded by trees.

The Winter is the opposite of summer, during the winter not only does the winter change but the town's appearance. The houses that once looked artificial were exposed and looked abandoned. “Winter comes down savagely over a little town on the prairie...The roofs, that looked so far away across the green treetops...they are so much more uglier then when their angles were softened by vines and

It isn't difficult to see how the changing climates affect the characters’ moods as well. Many of the squabbles between Jim and Antonia and hardships faced by the two families occur in the fall or winter, whereas the author focuses on the more pleasant aspects of life and the prairie when the weather is glowing. The very lives of the men and women on the frontier are almost entirely dictated by the world surrounding them. They learn to live by the months and the weather, and develop symbiotic relationships with the land they till. As proved in the novel through the characters, the more work man puts into the earth, the greater reward he will receive.

According to the narrator, "he was the most striking figure in Starkfield, though he was but the ruin of a man. It was not so much his great height that marked him, for the 'natives' were easily singled out by their lank longitude from the stockier foreign breed: it was the careless powerful look he had, in spite of a lameness checking each step like the jerk of a chain"(11). Although he wasn't dangerous by nature, people still respected and sometimes feared him. He had a commanding air about him that everyone noticed. The cat is used to be symbolic of Zeena. While Zeena was away, the cat was constantly underfoot and in the way of Ethan and Mattie.

The storyteller begins the story by stating from an early age he has had an obsession with animals. Poe states, “This peculiarity of character grew with my growth, and, in my manhood, I derived from it one of my principal sources of pleasure.” (Poe) This statement is evidence of the insanity the narrator experienced at a very young age. He goes on to explain that he and his wife have many domesticated animals, including Pluto, a large beautiful black cat. He describes the mutual fondness between him and the cat. This relationship between him and the cat, is strange. For years they have a growing friendship, until he started drinking alcohol in excess. The narrator goes on to explain how one night after getting completely intoxicated, the cat panicked and bit him. This causes the author to become angry and in a psychotic fit of rage, he takes a knife and cuts out one of the cat’s eyes. After this encounter, the cat fears him, and tries to avoid him at all cost. In the beginning, the storyteller is regretful and feels remorseful for the cruelty. But soon we see the narrator’s insanity expressed when Poe states, “But this feeling soon gave place

I think Wharton chooses this technique to give the readers a view of Ethan's struggles and his story. No one really knew the full story just bits and pieces. The narrator was confused and was forced to ask many sources to fully understand the Ethan Frome and who he really was. The narrator is working as an engineer in Corbury Junction and knows Ethan Frome through self rides. The narrator asked Ethan to transport him to and from the train station for work purposes. Ethan and the narrator are both very reserved and

Winter, a melancholy season, bring to the people the feeling of loneliness. The lonely person becomes lonelier. In the cold winter, just a little ray of sunshine is enough to warm a person's lonely heart. However, no one knows that little ray of sunshine in cold winter is a start point of the tragedy of love. Like "Ethan Frome" is written by Edith Wharton. The story revolves around the love triangle of three characters, Ethan, Zeena, and Mattie. Zeena, Ethan's wife, with illness, she represents the lack of energy. Contrariwise, Mattie, Zeena's cousin, who makes Ethan falls in love, represents the full energy of life. Mattie is a little ray of sunshine of Ethan in the cold winter. That makes Ethan feels thrilled, and the love triangle begins

In the beginning of the short story, as Brother reflects on Doodle’s life, the author uses personification and foreshadowing to create a mood of remorse. As he gazes out of the window into his backyard, Brother states that “the graveyard flowers were blooming. ...speaking softly the names of our dead” (Hurst 1). The flowers provide flashbacks of the past, and foreshadow a loss of life. The loneliness felt by Brother causes readers to consider how they would feel if their loved one was gone. As Brother observes the seasons, it is noted that “summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born” (Hurst 1). The personifications of the seasons as stages in the cycle of life and death creates an unsure and uncertain mood. The shift between seasons creates an idea of change and uncertainty of events to come. Hurst creates a mood of remorse through

The main season in the novel is the ’enemy’ of winter. Edith Wharton uses the climate to match the feelings of people in Starkfield, walking with a ’sluggish pulse’.

Mattie Silver's arrival at the Frome household is everything Ethan needs.  His lack of assertiveness has led to his deep hatred of his wife and his life.  He soon falls in love with young Mattie and when Zeena decides it's time for her to go, Ethan hesitates to stand up for himself and Mattie.  When he is forced to take her away, he tells Mattie about a story similar to theirs(Wharton, 56); he offers the chance for them to run away together, but Mattie declines.  If Ethan had only made the decision for them, or stood up to Zeena, his life would be much better off.

With reference to at least two characters in the novel Ethan Frome, show in detail how Wharton uses setting to reflect character.

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.

In the novel, “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles, the seasons develop actions and characters in the story. The story takes place at an all-boys boarding school in New Hampshire during World War II based off of the author’s previous experiences at a boarding school. The two main characters, Finny and Gene, experience character development alongside different seasons. In written works, seasons are commonly used to symbolically represent a change in the character’s personalities. The nature or setting of the story is used to specifically evolve Finny and Gene in seasons such as the summer, autumn, and winter. Each season change also generates an entirely different mood.

The novel opens, twenty years later, in Starkfield with The Narrator who develops the desire to know all about Ethan Frome’s past life. His curiosity gets him bits and pieces from the locals, but Ethan Frome remained mysterious. Due to a horrendous blizzard, The Narrator is given the opportunity to live in Ethan’s past and answer all of his questions. The reader starts off with the knowledge of Ethan Frome’s younger life. He desired to become an engineer ,but while pursuing his dreams, his father passes away and his mother becomes very ill. During that winter, Ethan hires Zeena, his cousin, to take care of his mother because he realized that it was too much for him to do on his own. When his mother passes away, he suffers from isolophobia, the fear of isolation, and decides to marry Zeena. The reader is made aware that the environment is cold representing a sense of isolation from the outside world. The Narrator finally learns about the “smash-up”(Wharton 1) according to the locals, that threw away all of Ethan Frome’s chances of escaping prison, also known as life.