Ethan Frome Quotes Analysis

Ethan Frome is a victim of both his own personal choices and his physical environment for several reasons. Many of these reasons can be interpreted from statements that are in the close readings from the book. These quotes are taken from several places in the book and do a good job of reasoning that Ethan Frome’s problems come from both his environment and his choices. These first quotes are ones that portray Ethan as a victim of his own personal choices. The first is in the prologue when Ethan is taking the narrator to work one day; “He never turned his face to mine, or answered, except in monosyllables.” This quote shows that Ethan chose not to speak to the narrator very much or even look at him. “He lived in a depth of moral isolation too remote for casual access,” is another quote that shows that Ethan chose only to speak to certain people and kept to himself most of the time. In chapter 2 when Ethan and Mattie are walking home Ethan imagines himself living with Mattie until they are buried in the Frome graveyard. He thinks, “We’ll always go on living here
In the Epilogue Mrs. Hale is talking about Mattie and Zeena and says, “But sometimes the two of them get going at each other, and then Ethan’s face’d break your heart. When I see that, I think it’s him that suffers the most.” This shows that because of his environment and the people he lives with, Ethan suffers and is made a victim. Overall in my opinion Ethan Frome is made a victim of not just his environment but also his personal choices. He lives in a place with people who have caused problems in his life and he also chooses to do things that cause him problems. This can be reasoned with quotes and passages taken from the