An Outcropping of Granite

An Outcropping of Granite If one visited New England in the winter, they would first notice the tremendous length of the season. A surveil of the cold and dreary landscape might follow this observation, in which the onlooker would see large outcroppings of granite. When cut and polished these outcroppings are beautiful, but at first sight they appear to be nothing more than dull rocks. Having spent extended periods of her childhood and adult life in Maine, Edith Wharton knew the villages of New England quite well. It was the experiences in the towns and the observation of the outcroppings that compelled Wharton to write her novel Ethan Frome. In the novel she compares her characters to these New England "granite outcroppings, half-emerged from the soil", suggesting that the massive structures, beneath their weathered and tired surfaces, hold something of great value (p 5). In Wharton’s exploration of these characters she discovers the effects of a life lived in intellectual and emotional isolation. Wharton contrasts the vitality of the “blazing blue sky” and the “intense glitter” of the Starkfield landscape with the “deadness of the community” (p10). The beautiful landscape seems to have no effect on the town’s inhabitants because they know that “long stretches of sunless cold” always follow the crystal clear days (p10). During these long winter months, nature declares war on Starkfield pitching its “white tents about the devoted village” (p 10). Wharton uses diction such as “wild cavalry” and “siege” to imply that winter assaults the town and its inhabitants (p 10, 11). Continually throughout the novel Wharton describes the characters as having seen “too many winters” (p 9). Throughout the novel winter stands as a symbol of isolation and hardship, indicating that the long winters of Starkfield bring the characters into emotional isolation. The theme of winter and emotional isolation are linked with Ethan himself. The frozen environment of Starkfield symbolizes Ethan’s defeat and failure to accomplish his dreams. Ethan has the potential to become an educated man, but his responsibility at home keeps him from accomplishing this. While attending Worchester, Ethan generally kept to himself, but “secretly gloried in being clapped on the back and being hailed as old stiff” (p 49). Ethan longs for acceptance and companionship, but remains emotionally frozen, an effect of long Starkfield winters. On his return home “there was in him a slumbering spark of sociability which the long winters at Starkfield had not yet extinguished” (p 40). Ethan still clings to the hope that he could one day leave Starkfield to live the fulfilled life he dreams of, but a series of invalids tie him to the land. Ethan fears the silence and isolation of the farm more than anything, but “In the long winter evenings” the sound of his mother’s voice “was seldom heard” and she soon fell completely silent (p 41).
Zeena comes to Starkfield to assist Ethan with his ailing mother, and with her arrival “human speech was heard in the house again” (p 41). Ethan worries that without Zeena he might have “gone like his mother”, and for this he feels indebted to her (p 41). Ethan viewed Zeena as a way to escape Starkfield, pursue his education, and move to a bigger town, but before long “she too fell silent” (p 42). Zeena becomes Ethan’s worst nightmare and a symbol of the loneliness that Starkfield brings. Mattie brings light into Ethan’s life; she is the opposite of Zeena in every way. She has not lived in Starkfield long, and therefore has not yet been affected by the violent climate. Mattie is different from the other inhabitants of Starkfield in her look, manner, and attitude towards animosity and conflict. While the Starkfield natives “were easily singled out by their lank longitude from their stockier foreign breed”, Wharton describes Mattie as beautiful. “She had an eye to see and an ear to hear: he could show her things and tell her things”, things that he (Ethan) could not share with Zeena. Mattie symbolizes the thing that Ethan craves in life: emotional intimacy. With Mattie Ethan feels comfortable, she gives him masculinity and a “thrilling sense of mastery” that he never feels in his marriage (p 50).
The tragedy of the “smash up” leaves Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena chained to Starkfield forever. Ethan, who was once full of hope, becomes “bleak and unapproachable” (p 8). He fails to accomplish any of his ambitions, such as finishing his education, leaving Starkfield, or running away with Mattie. After too many Starkfield winters Mattie completely changes. She is no longer sweet and kind, but volatile and unhappy. She and Ethan both become like granite.