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The novel that I read was Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton. The main character in the book is Ethan Frome, has many complex problems going on at the same time. His family has died and he has a wife that is always sick, and the only form of happiness he has is from his wife's cousin Mattie. This, however, at times proves to be hard because of Ethan's wifes interference. Nothing seems to be going in Ethan's favor.
The main theme of the book is failure. The main school of writing is naturalism. The literary styles that I will go over are flashback, symbolism, situational irony, foil and dialect. The first way failure is shown in the book is through the marriage of Ethan and his wife. He married her because she had tried to help his mother recover from an illness and once his mother died he could not bear the thought of living in the house alone. Mattie always made Ethan happy but he was bound by marriage to his wife He longed to be with Mattie, however he had loyalty to his wife.
Being married to the wrong person was Ethan's first failure. Another failure of Ethan's was not being able to stand up to his wife, like when Zeena wanted Mattie out and the new maid was to come Ethan didnt stand up to his wife and tell her that he wanted Mattie to stay. Zeena didnt even acknowledge what he said. If she says it to-night shell say it to-morrow (87) This shows how Zeena is in charge. Naturalism is when the author sets up everything up for failure and everything that can go wrong does.
This is shown in Ethan Frome by his failed attempted suicide that makes him crippled. Leaving only Zeena to look after them and take care of them. And Zeena's done for her, and done for Ethan, as good as she could (129) There was also flashback, which is when the time changes in the story so you know what happened in the past. In the beginning Ethan was an old man who caught the lawyer attention but then in chapter one it tells the story of his life his younger years and in the last chapter it goes back to him being old. The author sets it up so you know that something is going to go wrong.
Something has to happen at the end to surprise the reader. A symbol is something that represents something beyond itself. A big symbol in the story is the elm tree. The elm tree symbolizes the end and the escape of two lives. Even though Mattie an Ethan were not killed by the sled crash, that was their purpose. The elm tree also symbolizes strength and courage.
After the crash, the elm tree was still standing, while Ethan and Mattie were terribly injured. If Ethan were a stronger person he would not have crashed into the tree with Mattie. He would have had the strength to say no in the first place. Zeena, who was very ill, recovered, and she took care of Mattie and Ethan. It was a miracle, considering how sick she was-but she seemed to be raised right up just when the call came to her. (131) The situational irony when something unexpected happens.
Ethan and Mattie thought they would be together forever and they didnt want to be apart, so they try to kill themselves but fail and end up crippled. They now live together but not the way they had hoped, now they are being taking care of by Zeena because they are too hurt to take care of themselves. Foil is a character who provides a striking contrast to a character, which emphasizes characteristics of the character. Zeena is completely different form Mattie.
Mattie is a woman who was very free-spoken and whose only responsibility was to help Zeena and have fun. Mattie also makes Ethan feel good about himself and likes to be around her. She makes him feel like a young man again. But Zeena, on the other hand is the complete opposite of Mattie. She is a sick old who nags and nags at Ethan. The only reason he married her was so he wouldnt be left alone after the death of his parents.
Ethan doesnt like being around her because all she does is nag him and spend his money, which they have little of. Dialect is using language that is particular to a certain geographic region. In Ethan Frome the characters have a New England way of pronouncing words. Like when Harmon is telling the lawyer about Ethan and what happened to his family. First his father-then his mother-then his wife. (3) Harmon says first instead of first, because thats the way people spoke in New England.
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Research essay sample on Ethan And Mattie Ethan Frome
