As modern day people, we allow our environment to impact the way we make decisions, how we speak to people, and how we resolve conflicts. The influence of outside pressures from society, moral obligation, and physical disabilities does not allow many individuals to pursue their dreams. In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton the tragic story of a farmer and the unfortunate events that led up to his current life. This is then used to reveal the conflict of societal standards that challenge Ethan’s personal desires and keep him from pursuing his dreams.
In this story Frome faces many conflicts, physically and mentally he must rise to the occasion and find solutions for them, not knowing of the consequences. One of the many conflicts that our protagonist
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After being tied down to the family farm by his mother and father and his responsibility to care for them he is then tied down to his now sickly wife, and never leaves home to pursue his goal of becoming a well-educated intellectual. The decision to stay with his wife and care for her or leave and pursue his own dreams and relationships leads to great emotional distress. Occasionally Ethan is confronted, “with the sudden perception of the point to which his madness had carried him, the madness fell and he saw his life before him as it was.” Ultimately, he is resolved to the solution of taking his own life in an act of desperation to avoid being separated from his newly found love, …show more content…
In the real world when people are faced with choices these choices have consequences and deeply impact our loved ones, whether we intend them to or not. By challenging any set of beliefs, standards or ideals can be difficult, but one must be aware of those consequences and how they will alter the course of our life. Morality is a strong guiding compass in making difficult decisions, and is often the one that is most difficult to follow when put against the will of