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Ethan Frome Theme Analysis

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Being isolated from one's problems can drive anyone to live a sad and depressing life. Ethan Frome started by, when the narrator questions Ethan's motive to stay in the oh so bad described town. The novel was mostly a flashback of how everything got to what it is, and what was that tragic accident that not one soul in the town wants to talk about. Ethan Frome written by Edith Wharton, revolves around Ethan, a man who was raised and lived his whole life in a poor town and never left, The most important theme is isolation. At the beginning the narrator wonders why a man like Ethan would stay in such a bad town through all this time. Harmon Gow "Guess he's been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away." He stays in starkfield not because he's …show more content…

Zeena is not able to love anybody else except herself, so Ethan tries to find the missing love somewhere else and finds it with Maddie. The problem is that he can't be with her because of Zeena and he can't leave Zeena because he knows she can't fend for herself so he stays with her. So he stay with his miserable life, meaning he could never be happy. He is also isolated physically from the world. HAving to take care of everyone he can't do anything for himself. There is always someone new he has to take of. After his parents died he could have gone out of the town and finally been freed but his wife Zeena is the new person he needs to take care of now. When the accident happened Maddie became a new version of Zeena and EThan was bound to be even more miserable than he was. I chose Isolation because i believe is one of the greatest themes in the book. Isolation makes the novel what it is because of isolation everything happens. “Being isolated from one's problems can drive anyone to live a sad and depressing life” and it is true. If Ethan wouldn't have been isolated from many things he would have lived a happy

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