Ethan Frome

Ethan Frome Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome inspires many different thoughts on the way a person from a rural background lives. Although the beginning and end of the book are told from a narrator’s point of view, most of the novel concerns Ethan Frome’s actions and view on life. Ethan is by far the most round character in the novel, giving us access to most of his thoughts. Ethan is generally a sympathetic …

…a very poor man in attempt to make the reader sympathetic towards Ethan. Because the reader feels bad for Ethan it is hard to see that he really struggles, and has life ahead of him if he would make some decisions and grab that opportunity by the tail. In the end, Ethan lives a sad life which makes for a suicide attempt. The attempt backfires and Ethan lives an even more unhappy and poor life.