Ethan Frome Ending Analysis

Alternate Ending to Ethan Frome
Ethan and Mattie were riding down the hill, the Big Elm was coming up quickly. Mattie was ready for death, she hoped they would succeed. Ethan on the other hand, felt as if he was in slow motion. He remembered everything he and Mattie had done together. He decided, he would rather have death than not be with Mattie. Mattie called out to Ethan, “Are you ready Ethan?” “I’m ready Matt”, Ethan replied. Then, they hit. Mattie and Ethan were killed on impact, without a second to feel the pain.

Ruth Varnum and her brother were on their way home from town when the accident happened. They rushed to the tree, to see if Mattie and Ethan were unhurt. Ruth and her brother checked for a pulse on both Ethan and Mattie. They couldn’t find one. For a moment, Ruth couldn’t believe it. “Mattie was supposed to be my bridesmaid. How could this happen?” she cried. “I don’t know,” her brother replied, “Why were they even out here?” Ruth broke down into tears, as her brother tried to comfort her. “I just can’t believe it”, she sobbed.
“I know, I know, their death is too soon.”
Ruth and her brother started walking toward the house to meet him. “Jotham! Jotham!” Ruth called out, “Where’s Zeena?” Jotham looked confused for a second as to why they were here, replied, “She should be in the house. Why? What’s wrong?” “Mattie and Ethan were sledding, they crashed into the Big Elm and…” Ruth burst into tears and couldn’t continue. “And what? What happened?” Jotham asked, beginning to panic. “They died. They crashed into the tree and were killed,” Ruth’s brother told Jotham. By this time, they had reached the house. Jotham slowly sat down into a rocker in shock and said, “I can’t believe it, Ethan and Mattie are dead?” Ruth just nodded through her tears unable to speak its truth. “We came to tell Zeena,” she said. Jotham led them into the