Saturday, November 15, 2008
Chapter 5-end: What's up with the smash-up?
Post your responses to the final chapters of Ethan Frome here. So, the inevitable question: what did you think of the ending? Did you see some kind of ironic justice in the conclusion or feel sympathy for the plight of Ethan Frome? How is the theme of passion vs. responsibility developed? What internal and external conflicts does Ethan face? Were there other alternatives to the sled ride of death? What has happened to Mattie and Zeena at the end (physically and mentally)? What role reversals did you observe? Why did these occur? How does this ending revise the fairy tale? What statement does Wharton make about life in general (and especially life for women) during this time period? Were you more surprised by this ending or Of Mice and Men? What novel from this year gets your vote for Most Shocking Ending? What is the main theme/message of the novel? What are readers to take away from the book? (Besides to avoid large trees when sledding.) As always, feel free to respond to any of the above questions or include your own insights, questions for the class, and interpretations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
17 comments:
I really liked the ending of Ethan Frome. I did feel sympathy for him though, all he was seeking was love, and he could never grasp ahold of it. He married Zeena because she was the one exciting thing in his life. He fell in love with Mattie because she also was the one exciting thing in his life. After marrying Zeena, she became selfish and sickly. Mattie became a vegetable that needed care every at every whim.
It was interesting how after Mattie became injured Zeena came out of her phase. Maybe she fantasized her sickness all along in order to have someone to care for because she liked to doctor so much. Maybe she felt her own guilt and realized her selfishness. Maybe Mattie made her realize her coldness by obtaining Ethan's affection. It's like the end of any good fairy tale. A good fairy tale makes you wonder about why characters do the things they do.
I find the ending of the book ironic, yet i still feel sympathy for Ethan Frome. The whole story revolves around Ethan, who is trying to reject Zeena and bring Mattie into his life. At the end of the novel, he gets stuck with both. I feel sympathetic for Ethan because he never was able to happily fall in love. This puts the twist on the fairytale ending. No one was able to live happily ever after. Instead, they are all stuck inside a house with the least bit of love for each other. Ethan is now forced to watch over both Zeena and Mattie and it completely drains him.
Also, I found it intersting how the characteristics of Zeena and Mattie were reversed at the end of the novel. Zeena turned into a warm caretaker, while Mattie was the one needed the attentive care.
I did not like the ending. Why would they try to kill themselves by riding a sled into a tree? They could have run off together. There were many alternatives than sleding into a tree. I noticed the reversal of roles between Zeena and Mattie. Now Zeena has to take care of Mattie. I feel sorry for Ethan because he never wins through any of this, he pretty much always gets the worst of things. Like Nikki said, I don't think Zeena was ever really sick during the story. I think she just imagined it.
I did not really like the ending. I did not think it was as shocking as of mice and men. Of mice and men definately had the most shoking ending.
I mostly liked the ending of the novel. It was surprising, but I was very sad that Mattie became such a bitter old woman. I feel sympathy for Ethan. The past few years that he has been living with his wife has given him nothing but grief, and the first time he actually falls in love it is taken away. He didn't want to die, and didn't want to kill Mattie, but he felt that it was the only choice left. He couldn't think of being without her, and would rather be dead than see her with another man. Mattie felt the same way, and they both felt that death was their only option. I think that the "sled ride of death" (wow that's morbid) was really the only option in this case, even though the outcome was not what was planned.
At the end of the novel, Mattie is paralyzed (I believe from the waist down). She has become a bitter and cranky old woman, and her and Zeena fight constantly. However, having to take care of Mattie has given Zeena a new vitality. Instead of being unable to take care of herself as she was before, Zeena is able to care for Mattie. Zeena still gets sick, but taking care of Mattie gives her life a purpose that had been nonexistent before. The roles of the two have been reversed. Mattie used to take care of Zeena, but now Zeena is taking care of Mattie.
I believe that the most shocking novel of the year is...the Crucible or Lady and the Tiger. The ending of Ethan Frome was surprising, but throughout the novel you knew something bad was going to happen. The same goes for Of Mice and Men.
I was surprised by the ending because I thought Mattie was going to die, instead her personality alters extremely. I thought it was a tragedy, even though Mattie ends up living with Ethan. Mattie isn't the same and he suffers watching Zeena and her fight. The theme passion vs. responsibility is developed because Ethan has to decide between his love or his responsibility to his wife. The role reversals are between Mattie and Zeena. Zeena used to be mean and cold but at the end Mattie turns out that way. This occurred after the sled accident. This ending turns this story into a depressing tragedy, it does not end like a fairy tale. I think this novel had the most shocking ending, because I did not expect them all three to live in the same house and be so miserable. I thought Mattie would die, or marry someone else. I think readers can take away from this novel that attempting to commit suicide with your lover is not the best choice. It ended up that Ethan and Mattie were in more pain and misery then if they had not tried killing themselves.
I'm not sure if I really feel all that sympathetic towards Ethan. Seriously. "I'm so blinded by my love that the only way that I think I could ever go on is if I go down this slope aiming for a big tree and kill myself. I also love you so much that I'm going to kill you with me!"
Wait...what?
Honestly, is group suicide the only way? I'm a firm believer in the whole "If you are not terminally ill, you have no reason to be dead"-argument. There has got to be a better way.
Also, I've seen all of Ethan's relationships to be telling of Ethan's own personality. Did anyone else notice, he never settles for one girl!!! He goes for Zeena, becomes infatuated, marries, gets bored, goes for Mattie, becomes infatuated, eventually gets bored. Notice a pattern? Responsibility is a key component to any relationship and Ethan NEEDS TO REALIZE THIS.
I would put this as a novel that reinforces the idea that you need to be responsible. Responsible for yourself and for others that you have ties to. Does this mean that Ethan should have denied his feelings for Zeena-no, all he needed to do was be honest with the woman that he made a commitment to. Likewise, Ethan should have respected Mattie's own right to not get involved in anything like this.At least let the girl come on to you, not be drooling over a young girl when you are a MARRIED MAN!
Yeah...so Ethan? Not so much a pitiful puppy. I feel bad for him, but I also feel bad for those criminals on death row. Still doesn't take away what they have done...
I evjoyed the ending to Ethan Frome. It shows that is you commit adultry that you live with it forever. I found it really odd that Maddie suggested her and Ethan dieing together because she is so full of life. I also loved how Zenna got her health back because of the crash; seems like Maddie's health transferred the Zenna. Zenna needed to care for others to get over her illness.
I feel terribly for Ethan Frome because no matter what he does things get worse; it is a terrible way to live. I just want to know if he still loves Maddie.
The ending to Ethan Frome was definitly ironic because of the reversal of Mattie and Zeena's roles. I feel sympathy for Ethan because he was faced with the choice of Mattie being with another man. I didn't like that no one ended up happy in the end. If this novel truely was a fairy tale then someone would have ended up "happily ever after."
Most shocking ending goes to Of Mice and Men. Even though there was a ton of foreshadowing, I still believe that the ending was shocking.
I think this ending was very shocking but it does bring everything together. Zeena always treated Mattie badly because she was jealous of what she and Ethan had, and Mattie had to deal with it and continue to care for Zeena. At the end Zeena is the one who has to care for the injured Mattie. This is pretty ironic and shows that things can turn around so easily. It is kind of satisfying because both Mattie and Zeena got what they diserved. Zeena was always cold and needy and because of what happened she had to live in Mattie's shoes. Mattie took Ethan from Zeena, so she lost her excitement and charm. While this ending is pretty grim, it is fair.
Am I the only one who was totally shocked by the ending? I just can't believe that Mattie doesn't die. Actually I'm shocked that no one dies. This book definitely wins most shocking ending from me. I feel complete sympathy for poor Frome. He finally finds love and then the woman he loves ends up like the woman he wanted to escape: sick and needy. This is a very depressing book and teaches the reader that happily-ever-after is impossible to achieve. I think this is one of my favorite books we've read all year, despite its depressing nature, however. I feel this way because it kept me interested until the end and was hard to predict. I was not expecting it to end the way it did and I love that about this novel.
I didn't like the ending that much. I thought it wasn't a brilliant idea for Ethan and Mattie to conjure the plan to kill themselves to be together. They had many different options that they could have used, rather than running into a tree...Instead they could have ran away or thought of a different plan that didn't involve dieing.
I felt sympathy for Ethan Frome because he had only wanted to marry Mattie and be with her for the rest of his life. Ethan couldn't have this become reality though because of Zeena.
I thought that the ending of Of Mice and Men was more shocking than the this novel's ending.
The ending of Ethan Frome was surprising and shocking. I agree with the fact that it was surprising no one died, especially compared to all of the other books we have read! Anyways, Zeena's change of character surprised me, I thought she may have been a jerk after everything. I do partially pity Ethan; he tried to make himself happy in life, even though what he was doing was wrong.
As awful as this sounds, I felt that it showed the ironic justice. Ehtan shouldn't have thought of leaving Zeena for Mattie. Then again, it was also very sad that all three of them were stuck together for so long. I know that Zeena was kind of nasty and was a little cold-hearted, but I feel so bad for her. She has to watch as her husband fell in love with another girl. So even though as the reader you wanted Zeena to go away and let Ethan and Mattie be together, I felt exteremely bad for Zeena, because she should have ahd Ethan's love. It ties into the same passion vs. responsibility theme that was present in The Scarlet Letter because since Zeena is Ethan's wife, he should be with her and not be looking at other women, but then again he goes through a mental sruggle because he is extremely passionate and loves Mattie even though it is morally wrong. There were some very large role reversals throughout the book. At the very beginning, Zeena took care of Ethan's mom and even Ethan, she made sure that he was dealing with his mom's illness. Then, Mattie & Ethan starteed caring for Zeena when she starting getting sick very often. Finally, at the end of the novel, Zeena once agian started taking care of both Mattie and Ethan when they were both injured. The ending revises a fairytale because there was a more real life ending, there wasnt that perfect happy ever after. I thought that the Of Mice and Men ending was more shcoking, I was prettu sure that Lennie was going to die, but I didn't have any idea that george would kill him. In this novel, I figured there was going to be some sort of torture that Ethan would have to endure for the rest of his life, but i thought Mattie's death would have been the cause of it, but Of Mice and Men shocked me a little more. I think that the author sided with the resposibility side of the theme. The people on the passioate side did not get there happy ever after, but then again neither did the responsibility side. The reason i think that Wharton sides with responsibility is because Zeena was the eone who ended up taking care of Ethan in the end, not Mattie. In the end, Ethan needed Zeena, not Mattie.
Wowwww, the ending really suprised me. No one died at at all, as I expected. In fact, the reality that Mattie still lives with Ethan and Zeena is even more of a shocker. I do feel kind of bad for Ethan, but not becaseu he didn't end up with MAttie like her had hoped; because he has to live the rest of his life between both Zeena and Mattie and their awkward Triangle of awkwardness. Also, I think Ethan really could have run away with Mattie if he really wanted to, instead of the sleigh ride of death. The only problem would be Mattie's stubborness in doing so.
The ending definettly eliminates the fairytale theme altogether, because Ethan doesn't escape Zeena with Mattie, and now they're all living together as normal. I also find this ending the most shocking one yet, only because no one ends up dying, and the unexepected happens altogether.
I really did not expect the ending to go like this. When they decided to commit suicide, that was the real shocker. I do feel sympathy for Ethan. He never got the relationship with Mattie that he wished for. Now he is condemned to live with their decision, and has to see Mattie in the state that she is in. I never liked Zeena. She had a sour disposition to her.
But I do agree with other people on here, why did it have to be the tree? I am sure there were better ways to go by leaving together, and I did not expect them to want to leave life. Now Ethan has to live with his decision for the rest of his life.
so yeah, the ending, shocking. didnt expect group suicide. when i thought of smashup i actually pictured like, ethan and mattie running away and zeena chasing them down with a sleigh, laughing like some manic witch...which i wish had happened.
anyway, i didnt really feel that much sympathy for ethan or mattie, i didnt feel any for anyone. zeena made ethan and mattie keep her the center of attention for a long time, so she should have to care for someone else. also, ethan and mattie deserve the whole paralyzing accident. who tries to kill themselves by riding a sled into a tree? if thats not punishment for their sheer stupidity, then its punishment for their whole adulterous relationship.
so the main theme of this novel could be something like "express how you actually feel about people or youll end up caring for your sick wife and crippled mistress for the rest of your days." ethan never actually talked to zeena that much to hope to improve their relationship or let her know that mattie is his true love. something to that extent.
sorry for the late post mrs. heartz, ill take a late grade over no grade if thats okay =D
Post a Comment