Ethan Frome Essay

711 Words3 Pages
Ethan Frome In Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome, the symbols help develop the major themes, which are isolation and going beyond the community. These symbols are the winter season, the cat, Zeena's prized pickle dish, and Mattie Silver. If the aforementioned symbols were not present in the work, the outcome of the story would have differed greatly. The season of winter symbol has a great effect on the outcome of the story. This symbol develops isolation because of the cold and freezing temperatures, which separates the Fromes from society. Not only do the cold temperatures contribute towards isolation, but so does the snowy weather. The snow makes for difficult travel and trade, which is a reason why the Fromes are in such a tight spot with money. "Guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters."(Intro) This quote takes place in the introduction and helps to identify the season of winter being trouble. The going beyond the community theme is also developed by winter. Ethan and Zeena do not communicate much in their relationship, especially when they are cold and miserable. The situation with his wife is not able to be mended, so he forced to cheat with Mattie Silver. The sport of sledding also takes place during winter, and it is used as a means of suicide by Ethan and Mattie. In Ethan Frome, the cat represents Zeena. Ethan imagines the cat as Zeena when he and Mattie are sitting by the fire in the living room. “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.” (Chapter 5) The cat develops the isolation theme because even when Ethan and Mattie are alone, Zeena is still there, separating them from each other. The cat also develops the going beyond the community theme in the story. The cat represents Zeena, the thing that is wrong in Ethan's life.

More about Ethan Frome Essay

Open Document