What was the twittering animal in Ethan frome?

"The stillness was so profound that he heard a little animal twittering somewhere near by under the snow. It made a small frightened cheep like a field mouse, and he wondered languidly if it were hurt."

1. What does the cat symbolize in Ethan Frome?
2. What does the horse symbolize in Ethan Frome?
3. What does the butterfly symbolize in Ethan Frome?
4. What does the dead cucumber vine symbolize in Ethan Frome?
5. What does Shadow Pond symbolize in Ethan Frome?
6. What happens to the pickle dish?
7. Why is the missing door key significant in Ethan Frome?
8. What is the significance of the red pickle dish in Ethan Frome?
9. What does the sawmill represent in Ethan Frome?
10. What is the L of Ethan's farmhouse?
11. What type of tragic hero does Ethan Frome represent?
12. What does the color white symbolize in Ethan Frome?
13. What theme does Wharton attempt to convey through their communication?
14. Is Ethan Frome based on a true story?
15. Who died in Ethan Frome?
16. What does the elm tree symbolize in Ethan Frome?

What does the cat symbolize in Ethan Frome?

The Cat and the Pickle Dish

The animal serves as a symbol of Zeena's tacit invisible presence in the house, as a force that comes between Mattie and Ethan, and reminds them of the wife's existence.

What does the horse symbolize in Ethan Frome?

Final Sled Ride

Represents all the oppurtunities that Mattie had when she was in a morally correct mind, instead of wooing a married man.

What does the butterfly symbolize in Ethan Frome?

The image of the butterfly, which has defied the cold and death of winter symbolizes freedom; freedom that Ethan is unable to attain because he is trapped in a loveless marriage.

What does the dead cucumber vine symbolize in Ethan Frome?

The dead cucumber vine is a symbol of death. When Ethan first sees it he thinks it "dangled from the porch like a crape streamer tied to the door for a death." (pg. 21), and he imagines it foreshadowing Zeena's death. ... 77), the vine now foreshadowing the dead spirits and broken dreams of the Fromes.

What does Shadow Pond symbolize in Ethan Frome?

As Mattie and Ethan begin their ride, Ethan feels almost happy. He takes a route that leads them to Shadow Pond. The name "Shadow" is suggestive of the memories that Ethan and Mattie have of the spot; as well, it connotes the inability that Mattie and Ethan have of really communicating their feelings to each other.

What happens to the pickle dish?

Mattie is partially responsible for the breaking of both the pickle dish and the marriage, having handled them carelessly, and Ethan cowardly hides the broken state of each. Significantly, though, it was the cat that actually destroyed the dish.

Why is the missing door key significant in Ethan Frome?

4. Why is the missing door key significant? (It shows that Zeena won't be honest about her jealousy; she prefers to play games with Ethan and Mattie. It also shows the power she holds over the situation. She commands Ethan to go upstairs to bed with her and he obeys.)

What is the significance of the red pickle dish in Ethan Frome?

The pickle-dish, Zeena's favorite wedding present, is a symbol of Ethan and Zeena's marriage. For this reason, its destruction is particularly devastating to Zeena. The red color of the dish can be interpreted as symbolizing the passion that the couple no longer share.

What does the sawmill represent in Ethan Frome?

Like many of the symbols in Ethan Frome the farm, the sawmill, and the railroad show Ethan their most sinister aspects, expressing the anxiety of an early 20th century people moving away from rural, agricultural society and toward an urban, industrial one.

What is the L of Ethan's farmhouse?

And as The Narrator observes, Fromes' farmhouse "shivers" in the cold and looks "forlorn." After his important description of the "L" shape of the house — "the long deep-roofed adjunct usually built at right angles to the main house, and connecting it, by way of storerooms and tool-house, with the wood-shed and cow- ...

What type of tragic hero does Ethan Frome represent?

Therefore, Ethan Frome can be labeled as a tragic hero; one who is destined for greatness but ruined by his own shortcoming. Zenobia Pierce Frome, or Zeena, was presented as one of the “obstacles” of Ethan Frome's life that kept him from his dreams. However, Ethan did not always think of Zeena so negatively.

What does the color white symbolize in Ethan Frome?

According to the Dictionary of Literary Symbols white can symbolize “sincerity” “candor” or “faithfulness”. White can also symbolize purity and perfectionism as well as the absolute (Mitford 106).

What theme does Wharton attempt to convey through their communication?

The message that Wharton conveys through Ethan is that when people fear they are violating the rules of society, they risk becoming enslaved by those rules.

Is Ethan Frome based on a true story?

Wharton likely based the story of Ethan and Mattie's sledding experience on an accident that she had heard about in 1904 in Lenox, Massachusetts. Five people total were involved in the real-life accident, four girls and one boy. ... A girl named Emily Hazel Crosby was killed in the accident.

Who died in Ethan Frome?

At the time of the Epilogue, she has lived with the Fromes and been cared for by Zeena for over twenty years. Mattie has become querulous, whining, and petulant. The beautiful, sensitive, and loving girl that Ethan fell in love with, in a sense, did die the night of the smash-up.

What does the elm tree symbolize in Ethan Frome?

What does the elm tree symbolize in Ethan Frome? The elm tree in Ethan Frome likely symbolizes Mattie and Ethan's sexual relationship as a looming force of nature. The sexual tension between Mattie and Ethan, who never consummate their relationship, is palpable.