When you ask most people something they fear most in their lives, often times people will answer with “failure”. The pressure to succeed in life has been a constant driving force in most people’s lives in modern society, and is an especially large force for Ethan Allen Hawley in John Steinbeck’s The Winter of Our Discontent. Ethan claims that “strength and success… are above morality,” and seems to believe that the ends justify the means (Steinbeck 187). However, throughout his journey, it becomes obvious that he has not escaped the consequences of his terrible deeds. In fact, the actions Ethan takes in order to gain success prove that the pressure he is under in order to achieve it has affected his personal morality, and effectively turned …show more content…
He is sweet to his wife, he is gentle and caring with his children, and he makes an honest living working in a grocery store. He is smart, he is a good businessman, and while he is aware of his family’s rich past, and aware that he is not providing what he wishes he could provide for his family, it never crosses his mind to gain money by any dishonest means. As his story progresses, an increasing number of people seem to be trying to convince Ethan that he should be taking risks, building his business, and earning more money. Ethan, who is generally not a risk taker, is made uncomfortable by these conversations. Mr. Baker, the banker, comes to speak to Ethan while he is working in the grocery store. He asks about the money that Ethan’s wife has put away, and what he intends to do with it. Ethan has no plans for the money other than having it as “temporary security if anything should happen to [him] (Steinbeck 13). But Mr. Baker, who is not a believer in “idle money,” suggests that it “ought to be invested” (Steinbeck 13). He attempts to escape the conversation, but is instead sucked into talking about his …show more content…
His plan consists of three major events: rob the town’s bank, gain ownership of the store he works in, and obtain the land owned by the alcoholic, Danny Taylor. While one of these plans is obviously immoral, the other two seem to be reasonable. That is, they seem to be until the reader is exposed to how Ethan intends on reaching these goals. His first plan, the one that seems the most obviously nefarious, is ironically the only Ethan loses sight of. His plan to rob the bank stems from his acquaintance, Joey, speaking to him about a recent robbery in another town. Joey insists that, had they been smart, they would never be caught. Ethan wonders to himself why, “‘if it’s that simple…, don’t more people do it?’” (Steinbeck 56). He seems to be on the verge of confronting this idea before he is interrupted, and ditches the plan altogether. Soon enough, he is onto more even more dastardly things. The first of his final two plans he decides upon is getting the airfield property from Danny. Throughout the novel, it is made apparent to the reader that Danny and Ethan used to be incredibly close, and may even consider each other to be brothers. It is for this reason what Ethan does to him is so horrible. Ethan insists upon giving Danny a quite large sum of money under the guise that it is to help him kick his alcohol addiction. Danny even calls his bluff, saying that Ethan is basically
He deals with her complaining, overpowering and demanding personality, and she acts like she is always ‘sick.’ However, he didn’t ignore his feelings for Mattie and he wasn’t strong enough to run away and escape. When he was planning to run away with Mattie, he had to go get money from Mr. Andrew so they could run away but on his way there he met Mrs. Andrew. She told Ethan, “I always tell Mr. Hale I don’t know what she’d ‘a’ [Zeena] done if she hadn’t ‘a’ had you to look after her… You’ve had an awful mean time, Ethan Frome” (Wharton 104). After Mrs. Andrew tells this to Ethan, he doesn’t go ask for Mr. Andrew to pay him and instead goes home. He feels ashamed for for making Mr. Andrew get the money he needs because last time Ethan asked for the money, Mr. Andrew couldn’t get it. He also feels guilty for hurting his friends and he doesn’t want to leave Zeena with nothing when he runs away with Mattie. This displays again, how Ethan is a weak
In the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the protagonist Ethan Frome has an unusual personality. Along with this, Ethan’s motivations seem hidden. Ethan mainly associates with his wife Zeena and his young lover Mattie. The reason his social circle is limited is because the town has shunned him. The people have isolated him due to the decisions he has made. The story begins with the new town Reverend who forms a special interest in Ethan. Furthermore, the story goes back in time to explain why the town treats Ethan the way they do.
Ethan Frome is the main character of Edith Wharton’s tragic novel. Ethan lives the bitterness of his youth’s lost opportunities, and dissatisfaction with his joyless life and empty marriage. Throughout the story Ethan is trapped by social limits and obligations to his wife. He lives an unhappy life with many responsibilities and little freedom. Ethan Frome studied science in college for a year and probably would have succeeded as an engineer or physicist had he not been summoned home to run the family farm and mill. Ethan quickly ended his schooling and went to run the family farm and mill because he feels it is his responsibility. He marries Zeena after the death of his mother, in an unsuccessful attempt to escape silence, isolation, and loneliness. Ethan also feels the responsibility to marry Zeena as a way to compensate her for giving up part of her life to nurse his mother. After marring Zeena he forgets his hope of every continuing his education and he is now forced to remain married to someone he does not truly love.
From the beginning of the story, society opposed Ethan Frome in any ways. To begin with, he was a prisoner with his wife, Zeena. Just because Zeena took care of his mother as she was dying, Ethan felt like she was the woman for him. However, when Zeena’s cousin Mattie came to live with them, he instantly fell in love with her, and felt nothing but audacity towards his wife. When Zeena goes away due to her illness, Ethan and Mattie sit at home planning their future ahead of them. He plans to elope and run away with Mattie, but he cannot lie to his neighbors, Mr and Mrs. Hale in order to achieve the money he needs. In the end, Ethan decides to abandon life itself along with his true love Mattie. Ethan was a prisoner to poverty. When he was young, he wanted to leave his family farm in order to move to a larger town to become an engineer. However, that plan backfired and he was trapped in Starkfield for life. Society does not want Ethan to be happy for he committed adultery and treated his wife like she didn’t matter. The gravestones in his yard are a reminder t...
Ethan is the definition of a teenager and this characterization is known for making bad decisions so whenever he makes a decision in the book the reader can predict that something's going to go wrong like when he agrees to rob a bank or when he smashed his dad’s car in the first place.
A Fierce Discontent by Michael McGerr delves into the revolution of values from the victorian era to the progressive within the late nineteen century to the early twentieth century. McGerr’s major argument is the contrast between this set of values. The gilded age which McGerr focuses is the period where progressive values begin to take form and societal change ensues. The victorian values are values which epitomizes the British culture as just the name of the era is derived from queen Victoria. Alternatively the progressive era was a political reform focusing on anti corruption, women suffrage, and fixing the social problems plaguing society. McGerr argues that the victorian era and progressive era strikes few similarities within the
Throughout life, individuals are faced with decisions and obstacles that must be overcome. These decisions and actions are easily influenced by outside forces and motivations and the outcomes of our actions can have a drastic effect on one's destiny. The act of deciding a course of action is not always simple, but it is made even more difficult when we are faced with a time period and a negative outcome if we chose not to continue on our journey. In the short story “Winter’s Bone,” written by Daniel Woodrell, we are taught that throughout life people make choices between what they want to do and what they need to do. Sometimes those choices lead to unfavourable outcomes,
As Bartram says “ I can tell you, the good folk still talk about Ethan Brand, in the village yonder, and what a strange errand took him away from his line-kiln” (Hawthorne's, “Ethan Brand” 3). “...there was always something special even unique within Brand (the “solitary” and meditative” limeburner) that led him to his search and is till evident in Brand when he returns to Graylock” (Harris 1). Ethan Brand has always confused everyone. He has always kept everything to himself. So that causes no one to understand his motive for leaving the village. It just does not make great deal of sense, to the people why he would leave society for seeking to find something that may or may not exist. While people were confused by the departure of Ethan Brand, they are even more confused by his later
The main theme of the book Ethan Frome is failure. It is shown in three ways throughout the story: Ethan's marriage, him not being able to stand up to Zeena, and his involvement in the "smash up".
When Zeena was there while Ethan's mother was ill to "nurse her", she gave him the "human speech" he longed for because his mother had "lost the power of speech." Ethan felt that he would be "dreadful" if "left alone" if Zeena were to leave him, so he ended up marrying her so she would stay. Ethan is unable to make decisions without thinking of her first or being reminder that she's the one he is loyal to because of this attachment. Even having blissful moments with Mattie, Ethan cannot rid his mind of Zeena. While having supper, the cat "jumped between them into Zeena's empty chair" and when reminded of Zeena, Ethan was "paralyzed." Ethan is happy when with Mattie, but his love for her will never rid him from Zeena. Ethan was even planning o asking the Hales for currency, but the thought of "leaving alone" his "sickly woman" led him to desert his plan in taking money to leave Zeena by herself. This shows that even in his desire to escape her, Ethan values their marriage and is still thinking of her greater good. Ethan's happiness resides in Mattie to the point where he was willing to kill himself to be with her forever, however, midway through the attempt, "his wife's face, with twisted monstrous ligaments, thrusts itself between him and his goal." Due to Zeena showing herself to Ethan near death, he "swerved in response" which may have caused the attempt to fail. This scene demonstrates how Ethan, even when
Meanwhile, how could she keep the farm going? It was only by incessant labour and personal supervision that Ethan drew a meager living from his land, and his wife, even if she were in better health than she imagined, could never carry such a burden alone" (Wharton 73). This evidence demonstrates Ethan's quality of his kind and loving nature towards others. The reason is when he wants to leave Zeena, he thinks about her future and how she will suffer to support herself. He cannot bear Zeena's pain, so he puts her future and their marriage before his dreams. His dream is to "leave with Mattie the next day" (Wharton 72). Another example when Ethan is a very concernful person is when "she would have suffered a complete loss of identity" (Wharton 38). This quote demonstrates Ethan's concern for Zeena because Ethan's dream is to move to the metropolitan area, but Zeena's sickliness will make her look inferior to the city. Ethan's concern for Zeena's image prevents him to "sell the farm and saw-mill and try their luck in a large town. Ethan's love of nature did not take
Soon, instead of being angry at Ethan, I became confused as to my feelings for the characters. Similar to Ethan when he chooses to stay with Zeena. While I don’t have a wife I have to worry about, I’ve got to worry about my own well being and boy am I bad at that. Being a college student I understand the money struggles, and not being able to do everything (two jobs, and many hours of studying).
Ethan is not happy with his life and feels that it is his obligation to stay on the farm and work like his parents had “readers discover a man who feels overwhelmed by family responsibilities and who cannot free himself from what he believes to be family expectations.” (Witkosky). This obligation, and what Ethan believes to be his family expectations, ultimately helped lead to his decision to stay in Starkfield and not pursue a happier life with Mattie elsewhere. Ethan also feels that even though all of his family members had died a long time ago, he still senses their presence, and he feels pressured to continue the family custom “Ethan senses their presence; in his eyes, the headstones on their graves, located near his farm, are like sentinels who guard and enforce family custom.” (Witkosky).
In the book “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton, Ethan, the main character in the book, experiences many episodes of isolation persuading him to escape from and cope with them with outlets of hope, only leading to a life of permanent isolation. The story depicts a classic ironic switch of roles and a triangle of unusual “love.” With many people coming and going, Ethan looks to rely on someone to relieve his isolation and communicate with, only setting him up for trouble.
In his hometown, money grubbers such as Mr. Baker now walk the streets of a place once dominated by noble Aunt Deborahs and old Capn's. Although he hates to admit it, Ethan notices that the people of New Baytown are more interested in earning money than the well-being of each other. As he sees with the treatment of the once prominent Danny Taylor, people reject those who do not comply with society's standards for wealth. Fearing that he too will be tossed aside, Ethan mutters the rhetoric of Shakespeare; that "now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this son of York" (Steinbeck 157). The phrase “winter of our discontent” is a metaphor used to describe sadness. Ethan speaks about a winter of discontent because he feels the jaws of a dishonest society attempting to eat away at his core values, that is honesty and integrity. When his employer, Alfio Marullo, attempts to get Ethan to save money at the expense of customers, Ethan claims he does not chisel people just to earn a profit. Marullo explains that exploiting customers is good business, for