Ethan Frome-Article Analysis

"Under the Granite Outcroppings of Ethan Frome"
by: Helen Killoran

In the article I chose, the thesis talked about how immoral Ethan Frome was for society. She discussed each character and if you look through each character, which one was more immoral than the other. Her findings shocked me. Of course most believe falling in love with your wife’s cousin is bad, but I thought Zeena would have been the most immoral. I was extremely wrong. In fact, in this article she is actually praised for having the most moralistic character. She discusses how Zeena did the right thing by trying to get rid of Mattie, and how horrible it was for Ethan to try and get her to stay. She also talks about reasons why Zeena couldn’t be without Ethan for several reasons. She was extremely “sick”, and she needed constant care, and also there is the theory that she had a miscarriage. When Wharton writes about the “dead cucumber vines dangling from the porch like the crape streamer ties to the door for a death” (Wharton 51), most believe she is referring to the fetus tied to the umbilical cord of Zeena. This shows one of the major reasons for Zeena trying to make this marriage work between the two of them. She and Ethan have been through so much, and I think she believed that there was no other way. Ethan was the most immoral character of the entire novella. He falls in love with someone while he is married, he can’t provide children for his wife (so he gave up and doesn’t want to care for her illnesses), and he tries to commit suicide. This shows how little his morals are as a person. I think that this argues its thesis extremely well. Helen Killoran knows exactly what points to make and really turns this whole book around. I found myself almost hating Zeena, but now I understand why she did what she did. I was unaware of all of this background information. Killoran does an amazing job showing the readers what is going on through Zeena’s perspective. I agree with what she writes, but I can also disagree. If Zeena really loved Ethan then she would be looking out for what is best for him, not her “wellness”. I think that you love who you love, and maybe Ethan just wasn’t feeling it anymore. In Ethan’s defense, she didn’t act to loving either. Most thought that she didn’t care about him at all. But overall, this was a great read and I’m glad I got to see it in another perspective. I think it changes my overall outlook on this great novella.