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Ethan Frome is a very well written book with a story of love, intrigue, suspicion, and hatred. In the story, there are many people, but only three stand out to me, plus an animal. I will tell you of one scene in the book that shows the cat puss as a symbol and a familiar. In the story of Ethan Frome, there are three main characters, Ethan From, his wife Zena, and Mattie, Zena's relative. Ethan was a man of little character. Being from a small town in New England, he and his towns people where very isolated and knew almost nothing about the world outside of Stark field.
As for Zena, she had come to Ethan's side when his mother was deathly ill. After his mother past, Zena was welcomed to stay with Ethan, and then they where married. Zena was a very cold woman who had no character and very little compassion for other people. She was the type of person who always looked for a way to have attention drawn to her as if she where important and she also wanted people to feel sorry for her every time she was sick, which was quite often. In this story, one girl, who is Mattie, stands out to Ethan as being a vibrant and young lady, unlike his older wife, Zena. Mattie has a very colorful outlook on things and is always getting peoples attention in a good and loving way, unlike Zena who draws attention to herself by always being ill.
In this story, Zena has a cat named puss who can be recognized as both a symbol and a familiar. I learned that familiar is another word for a person to see through to another person or even another world, like a mirror. Puss is, in my opinion, is Zena's familiar, watching over Ethan and Mattie. When Zena left town for one of her doctors excursions, Ethan and Mattie where left alone at the house for the night.
Zena knew nothing of Ethan's feelings toward Mattie, but she knew to be careful about leaving them alone together. That night, Mattie fixed a delightful dinner and used Zena's pickle dish, which was a wedding present and it was the only thing that had any value to her. When they where eating, Mattie noticed the cat was sitting in the chair where Zena often sat, it was like she was sitting there watching there every move. Mattie and Ethan where having a wonderful conversation, when all of a sudden, the cat leaped onto the table and knocked over the priceless pickle dish. Mattie was very upset but Ethan calmed her fears, and told her he would go to town the next day and buy glue and the pickle dish would be as if it where new.
This seemed to be a familiar of Zena. She wasnt there, but the cat made it seem as if they where being watch by someone, maybe Zena. When the cat broke the pickle dish, it was a sign that Zena would eventually find out about Ethan and Mattie having an extravagant dinner and this would outrage her because she never uses the pickle dish, not even when the minister came to dinner. When she went to her medicine cabinet, she saw the broken pickle dish set on the shelf, which was still all in pieces.
She asked Ethan how it had been broken. When he told her the cat jumped up into the cabinet and broke it chasing for mice, she was very intrigued that her cat could put a broken dish back on the The cat can also be recognized as a symbol in this same section of the book. When Zena wasnt at the house, Ethan and Mattie enjoyed each others company even more. When the cat came around either of them, they both thought of Zena.
This especially bothered Ethan. Being her husband, he knew that he couldnt hurt her, in any way but his love for Mattie was growing stronger every day. It seemed to me that he felt guilty about his liking Mattie whenever the cat or Zena came around. The book later goes on to tell the tragic story of Ethan and Mattie's love for each other and of Bibliography:
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