There is much more to Ethan Frome than simply an unhappy love story. In fact, Wharton offers the reader a complex story through the adequate use of literary devices to find the deeper meaning. Whether it is told directly or it is integrated in between the lines, all written pieces have the sense of a deeper meaning. While Edith Wharton tells the story of Ethan’s desperate hopes and attempts to leave his dreary life, she employs different themes, symbolism and foreshadowing to convince the reader that his doomed fate was fixed from the start.
Silence was quite eminent in the lives of the three main characters. Ethan, a quiet man by nature, is forced to return to his hometown of Starkfield following the death of his father to run the family …show more content…
Using symbols in stories creates a mood or emotion to try and represent something else of a character, a situation, or an object. “A dead cucumber-vine dangled from the porch like the drape streamer tied to the door for a death, and the thought flashed through Ethan's brain: “ If it was there for Zeena—“ (Wharton, 45). The dead cucumber-vine metaphorically represents the death of Zeena who might get taken away eventually by her ailement. It almost seems as if Ethan desperately wants for Zeena to die. Her lingering presence in the house does nothing but bring an eerie dread within the household. The red picked dish that the cat had shattered during the night Mattie prepared supper for her an Ethan resembles the shattered marriage of Zeena and Ethan. It was a wedding gift that Zeena had held on to which meant a whole lot to her. Given the fact that Mattie had a part in the shattering resembles how Mattie steps into the lives of the married couple and essentially breaks apart the marriage. Another significant symbol is Zeena’s cat. “The cat who had been a puzzled observer of these unusual movements, jumped up into Zeena’s chair, rolled itself into a ball, and lay watching them with narrowed eyes.” (Wharton, pg 78) Although Zeena is away, it is like the cat is her invisible presence. Ethan and Mattie were trying to get close but situations just became awkward because it was almost like Zeena was staring at them
Silence was quite eminent in the lives of the three main characters. Ethan, a quiet man by nature, is forced to return to his hometown of Starkfield following the death of his father to run the family …show more content…
Using symbols in stories creates a mood or emotion to try and represent something else of a character, a situation, or an object. “A dead cucumber-vine dangled from the porch like the drape streamer tied to the door for a death, and the thought flashed through Ethan's brain: “ If it was there for Zeena—“ (Wharton, 45). The dead cucumber-vine metaphorically represents the death of Zeena who might get taken away eventually by her ailement. It almost seems as if Ethan desperately wants for Zeena to die. Her lingering presence in the house does nothing but bring an eerie dread within the household. The red picked dish that the cat had shattered during the night Mattie prepared supper for her an Ethan resembles the shattered marriage of Zeena and Ethan. It was a wedding gift that Zeena had held on to which meant a whole lot to her. Given the fact that Mattie had a part in the shattering resembles how Mattie steps into the lives of the married couple and essentially breaks apart the marriage. Another significant symbol is Zeena’s cat. “The cat who had been a puzzled observer of these unusual movements, jumped up into Zeena’s chair, rolled itself into a ball, and lay watching them with narrowed eyes.” (Wharton, pg 78) Although Zeena is away, it is like the cat is her invisible presence. Ethan and Mattie were trying to get close but situations just became awkward because it was almost like Zeena was staring at them