In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton the main character, Ethan, was married prematurely to a sickly Zeena. A woman "with no natural turn for housekeeping, and her training had done nothing to remedy the defect." (43 Wharton). In another book that I have recently enjoyed, The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway an old sick man goes out to fish for the 84th day with no luck in the many days prior. But in the 84th day he finds his mate, a strong Marlin. Ironically there is a greater love between the old man and the fish than the love Ethan has found for his own wife Zeena. This diminishing love between Ethan and his wife is explained in the first couple pages of the novel when Ethan sees Mattie Silver in the ballroom. “As she passed down the line,
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In Ethan Frome the idea that occurs continuously throughout the novel is society and morality as obstacles to fulfill desires. This theme is not only present in Ethan 's life but in most of our lives living in a world controlled by society and the media. The major theme in the Old Man and the Sea is honor in defeat. The honor that someone received even when they have failed at a task. These two themes contrast because one theme is controlled by someone/something other than yourself, society and morality. While the other theme is controlled by you as a whole, the pride and honor you feel through struggle and when you feel accomplished even through failure. These themes compare because in each of them there are obstacles, society and morality, and your own pride and success. To have honor in defeat you must first jump the obstacle of proving to yourself that even though you failed you still succeeded because of the effort you put into it. You must overcome your own pride and understand that you still succeeded just like the man did in the Old Man and the Sea, even if he came home with nothing. "Bed will be a great thing. It is easy when you 're beaten, he thought. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought. "Nothing," he said aloud. "I went out to far." The old man keeps his honor by telling himself he was not beat, he just went a little to far into the
In Ethan Frome the idea that occurs continuously throughout the novel is society and morality as obstacles to fulfill desires. This theme is not only present in Ethan 's life but in most of our lives living in a world controlled by society and the media. The major theme in the Old Man and the Sea is honor in defeat. The honor that someone received even when they have failed at a task. These two themes contrast because one theme is controlled by someone/something other than yourself, society and morality. While the other theme is controlled by you as a whole, the pride and honor you feel through struggle and when you feel accomplished even through failure. These themes compare because in each of them there are obstacles, society and morality, and your own pride and success. To have honor in defeat you must first jump the obstacle of proving to yourself that even though you failed you still succeeded because of the effort you put into it. You must overcome your own pride and understand that you still succeeded just like the man did in the Old Man and the Sea, even if he came home with nothing. "Bed will be a great thing. It is easy when you 're beaten, he thought. I never knew how easy it was. And what beat you, he thought. "Nothing," he said aloud. "I went out to far." The old man keeps his honor by telling himself he was not beat, he just went a little to far into the