How is symbolism used in Ethan Frome?

How is symbolism used in Ethan Frome?

The animal serves as a symbol of Zeena’s tacit invisible presence in the house, as a force that comes between Mattie and Ethan, and reminds them of the wife’s existence. Meanwhile, the breaking of the dish, Zeena’s favorite wedding present, symbolizes the disintegration of the Frome marriage.

How is silence a symbol in Ethan Frome?

Wharton frequently describes the farm and the attached house as dark and decrepit, symbolizing the Ethan’s silence as a result of his quarantine from humanity, and the emotional damage it causes within him.

How is the season symbolic of Ethan’s life?

The Narrator speculates that the winters in Ethan’s past must have brought about a suppression of life and spirit. Winter is also symbolic of the isolation, loneliness, and immobility that Ethan experiences.

How is Starkfield described in Ethan Frome?

Starkfield is a town that is just like its name, it is boring, barren, severe, and harsh. Starkfield is known for its many harsh winters that leave the inhabitants bitter and in harsh condition. Starkfield is a village that lays “under a sheet of snow perpetually renewed from the pale skies” (pg. 10).

What does the cucumber vine represent in Ethan Frome?

Dead Cucumber Vines, Crepe Streamers, and Other Symbols of Death. Ethan Frome is loaded with symbols of death. We thought the dead cucumber vine was a pretty good one:A dead cucumber-vine dangled from the porch like the crape streamer tied to the door for a death…

What does the cucumber vine mean in Ethan Frome?

The dead cucumber vine is a symbol of death. When Ethan first sees it he thinks it “dangled from the porch like a crape streamer tied to the door for a death.” (pg. 21), and he imagines it foreshadowing Zeena’s death.

How does Ethan Frome end?

Instead of finding escape in suicide, he and Mattie have ended up in a state of living death, in which all Mattie’s vitality has been leeched away, and she has transformed into a carbon copy of her former opposite, Zeena.

What do Ethan and Mattie’s Scarlet adornments represent?

Thus, Mattie’s scarlet adornments also symbolize her role as Ethan’s temptress toward moral transgression. During their meal alone, and the evening that follows, Ethan and Mattie share the house with the cat, which first breaks Zeena’s pickle dish and then seats itself in Zeena’s rocking chair.

What does Ethan’s decision about Mattie’s Death Wish symbolize?

The decision parallels Ethan’s agreement to Mattie’s death wish, his conduct in his marriage, and his attitude toward life in general: unable to face the consequences of any decision, he lets external circumstances—other individuals, society, convention, financial constraints—make his decisions for him.

What are symbols in the things they carried?

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. In the two key scenes when Mattie and Ethan are alone together—outside the church after the dance and in the Frome house on the evening of Zeena’s absence—Wharton emphasizes that Mattie wears red.