Chris Harlan Professor Owens LITR221 8/31/2014 Ethan Frome: American Characteristics in the Man Ethan Frome Ethan Frome is not quite the quintessential American however, the paths he travels are due to his choices. Those choices are his to make in a free country such as America. In the novel Ethan Frome the character Ethan displays many characteristics of which have always either been or have become American in nature, for better or for worse. Some of these characteristics are follow-through, tough-as-nails work ethic, and a seemingly unbreakable moral code. However romantic these characteristics are it is truly subjective to all people as what can constitute the term American. The first characteristic that the man Ethan Frome displays …show more content…
At first the reader is drawn to Ethan’s love of his ailing father, and his mother, eventually even his own wife in their constant care. Ethan is represented as a fairly loving man, and this is only emboldened when the story steers toward the subject of Mattie Silver. Ethan displays an almost endless capacity of love for her on the minutest of details. He takes on the responsibilities of the house chores as he realizes that Mattie is simply not able physically to do so, on top of his own chores. He even takes up driving her the miles to town on an almost daily basis in addition to all of his already mounting responsibilities. His love is so great for Mattie that he even considers leaving town with her for the west and starting a new life, even taking into account the care and well-being of Zenobia. So even in this act of love towards Mattie he is still thinking of his current wife that has no love for him. Ethan’s second-to-last act of love is to knowingly end both his and Mattie’s life, because they both know they cannot be together. Ethan declares that he would rather Mattie be dead than not his, and to this end they both agree. However Ethan’s greatest act of love is to take care of Mattie after the accident, but also his wife in the same house for years after the accident. He willingly accepts this horrid circumstance as his love is so great and he feels