FREE ESSAY ON ETHAN FROME READERS RESPONSE

ETHAN FROME READERS RESPONSE

I thought the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton was one of the best books that I have
ever read. When I started reading the book I thought that it would be about the accident
that Ethan experienced instead of the incidents behind it. The novel is also well
written, Edith Wharton did a fine job writing a book that I never wanted to put down. I
felt as though the story was being told to me and that I actually knew Ethan and Mattie.
As well I enjoyed the way that Edith Wharton used a lot of adjectives to make the scenes
and story come alive, for example in the end of the story during the sledding scene I
actually felt as though I was on the sled with Ethan and Mattie. 
Only two things in the novel bothered me, the fact that in the beginning of the novel I
thought that I would find out what happened to Ethan in more detail and I also wanted
Mattie and Ethan to run off together. In the opening of the novel, I thought that I would
learn more about the accident and when I finished the novel I thought that I was "left
hanging" when Edith Wharton really did not tell you what happened after she made it seem
as thought that is what the novel is about. I also wanted Mattie and Ethan to live
happily ever after, maybe it was the female in me but I think that they should have run
off together instead of being sensible. In the end of the novel, I was really surprised
to find out that Ethan is still married to Zeena, I thought that Zeena might leave Ethan
and then Ethan and Mattie could get married.
I did notice some of the symbolism that Edith Wharton uses in her novel for example, that
there is striking symbolism in the imagery that the author uses, primarily that of winter
which depicts coldness, detachment, bleakness and seclusion. I also think that Edith
Wharton chose winter as a theme in this novel because it symbolizes emotional and
physical isolation, and death that surrounds Ethan. Similarly, the name of the town,
Starkfield, is symbolic of Ethan's boring life. Just as Ethan's house was once new and
beautiful it is now worn by many harsh winters in Starkfield, as was Ethan after the
accident. The ravages of winter destroy both Ethan's will to survive and the buildings
that Ethan constructed to shield him from the cruel environment of Massachusetts.
The part that I liked the best in the novel was in the end when Mattie and Ethan decided
to go sledding. In the fresh snow they put away their sorrow and regret for just one
moment of joy. I thought that Ethan and Mattie kissing in the same position that Ned Hale
and Ruth Varnum did, symbolized the passion that they experienced throughout the entire
novel. Furthermore I felt that deciding to commit a double suicide is an odd way to prove
their love for each other and also in a weird way romantic. When Ethan decides not to run
into the tree head on I did feel a great amount of relief because I did not want Ethan or
Mattie to die. Not only is the symbolism dark but so is the end of the story and it makes
Ethan Frome a different type of a love story. It is not all fireworks and flowers, I
enjoy a break from the norm, and that is what I liked so much about Ethan Frome.