It all began when my father died, and I had to leave Worcester college to take of my Mother. I had just left Starkfield and was ready to become an engineer, but I knew I had to come home and take care of my Mother. She was sick and needed my assistance because she was all alone. Each day she grew more and more silent, and each day I lived through my misery. My cousin Zeena came to stay with me and helped take care of my mother so I could care for the farm. Later, when my mother passed away, I asked her to stay with me, and we got married. I just couldn’t stand the silence and I was afraid to be alone.
Later, my wife’s cousin’s parents died, and she had nowhere to go. Her extended family did not want to take her and because she was a woman she
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While walking up the hill, I put my arm around her, and we headed to the back door of the house. I then realized that Zeena had locked the door, and she came to reveal she was feeling ill, so she went to bed early. The following morning Zeena informed me she was leaving Starkfield to visit a doctor, to receive treatment. Later that night, Mattie prepared a nice meal for us to share together. Mattie even went to the top shelf to grab our finest pickle dish to make the table look nice; the cat knocked the dish over and broke it. Mattie was then overcome with emotions and guilt, but I told her not to worry because I would put the pieces back together on the shelf and later glue it together.
The next morning, I went into town to get the glue, and when I returned home I was greeted by Zeena. When I greeted Zeena she acted hostile and announced we had a new hired girl coming to work for us. Zeena then explained that Mattie’s help around the house isn’t sufficient enough and that she needs to be replaced. Later that night, Mattie realizes I am upset about something. I then take her into my arms and kiss her and tell her that Zeena wants her to
Ethan Frome, by Edith Wharton, tells the story of a love triangle between Ethan Frome, Zeena Frome, and Mattie Silver. The book was set in the imaginary town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. The story starts with a flashback from an unknown narrator who is friends with Ethan Frome; he tells the readers that Zeena’s cousin, Mattie, is coming to the Frome household to care for the house while Zeena is sick. When Zeena leaves town for a visit to the doctor, Mattie and Ethan are home alone and begin to get to know each other better. Zeena becomes suspicious of the two and wants Mattie to leave their house, and get a replacement maid that was recommended by the doctor.
Mattie Silver grew up having to work as a “housekeeper” for Ethan and Zeena Frome (Ammons
However, this ‘glue’ is never applied to the dish. This could mean that he never applied the plan. In chapter 7, Zeena’s reaction to the plate being broken could also be a reaction to her marriage being broken too. “’If I'd 'a' listened to folks, you'd(Mattie) 'a' gone before now, and this wouldn't 'a' happened," she said; and gathering up the bits of broken glass she went out of the room as if she carried a dead body...” (Wharton, chap 7).
Ethan’s initial response is to attempt to simply piece back the pickle dish with glue. The use of glue or “the easy route” to fix the broken pickle dish so Zeena won’t discover the accident, symbolizes Ethan’s thought process to try repairing their loveless relationship. Furthermore, Ethan is afraid to even tell Zeena that the dish has broken which shows the lack of communication and understanding in their relationship. Zeena’s response is much more dramatic, by intensely accusing Mattie of not only breaking her most prized possession, but also threatening her husband and their marriage. Zeena’s anger and resentment over the broken pickle dish actually illustrates her sorrow over her broken and unfulfilling marriage.
After the dance you notice Mattie wears a lot of red. This symbolizes that Mattie scarlet adornments and her role as Ethan’s temptress towards moral transgression. Mattie has all the things that Zeena lacks so Ethan finds all of what he wants in Mattie. She appears strong and always does what she is told to do for Zeena. Mattie is there to take care of Zeena because she
Mattie believes right from the beginning that she is the one that needs to avenge her father’s death. She believes that she needs to do it by herself, not involving anyone else. That way she knows that everything was done right, in the way she planned and wants. That way no one can stop her from doing what is
Her red scarf, lips, and ribbon all connected her to the symbolic object, the pickle dish. The pickle dish is first showed as Zeena's and Ethan's physical meaning of their marriage. Once Mattie comes into Ethan's sight of love, her presence destroys it. The way it happens in the story is that as Ethan and Mattie prepare for dinner the cat jumps onto the table and breaks the red pickle
In the beginning of this book on page 13 when polly died. Mattie wanted to go to polly’s funeral but her mother would not allow her to go. Because her mother was afraid she would get sick.
and I agreed to give her a dollar extry to make sure. She’ll be over tomorrow afternoon (Wharton 82)”. She does not discuss getting a new girl with Ethan at all. She uses the excuse she did not want to show that they are broke because it is embarrassing. In reality, she wants to get rid of Mattie by getting the new servant.
It made it clear to people that something was not right when the pickle dish was brought down from the shelf. In a way Mattie symbolized the cat when the pickle dish was destroyed. The cat knocked over the pickle dish, which symbolised the destruction of their marriage. This shows that when the cat destroyed the pickle dish, Mattie also destroyed Ethan and Zeena’s
Mattie would have to leave and the two would have to live apart. This, however, is something that they will not accept. They decided that death is the better option and attempt suicide by riding a sled into a large elm tree. The attempt fails and they are sent back to the farm to be taken care of by Zeena.
To stay and watch her younger siblings while helping out on the farm. Mattie realizes that without hope for the future, she could actually become the