Does Ethan Frome Deserve His Fate

Morals and ethics serve as a guiding compass towards making the right decision in life. People use them to instill respect and improve relationships. Most importantly, moral values reflect an individual’s character. Morals can sometimes, however, guide someone down the wrong path, making his life a living nightmare. One may act morally towards others, but his selflessness can tragically lead to his downfall. Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome exemplifies an auspicious life ruined because of high morals. In the novel, Ethan Frome resides in a town well-fittingly named Starkfield. No matter what Ethan does, he cannot find a way out of Starkfield. He made numerous attempts to escape his destined life, but failed every time. Eventually, Ethan spends the …show more content…
They insist that Ethan deserves his fate because of the opposing syllogism, stating that one deserves his fate when he chooses impulses rather than morals. Ethan chooses to follow his impulses rather than his morals. As a result, Ethan deserves his fate. One believer of the opposing syllogism, fellow CHS student Matthew Weder, argues that Ethan deserves his fate because of his apparent fear for Zeena. He relates Ethan’s case of determinism to those at the Special Olympics. He believes the disabled population can decide to be happy or sad about their current situation. Despite the amount of free will offered, the decision to be either happy or sad is amoral. They can choose whether to live a happy life or a miserable life. The decision does not reflect others as in Ethan’s case. Weder claims that “throughout Ethan Frome, Ethan creates a cage made of fear. The most prominent material of his cage is the fear of confronting Zeena.” It may be true that Ethan decided to marry Zeena out of his impulses rather than his morals, but after the marriage, Ethan had full responsibility for Zeena. He mainly provided for her when she did not feel well. The relationship had no intimate connection whatsoever, hence the lack of communication between the two. Ethan had nothing in common with Zeena so it was …show more content…
He suffers from an unfortunate fate because of moral constraints and uncontrollable forces. Because of moral constraints, Ethan had to put his dream career to a halt and take care of his parents in Starkfield. Ethan then went on to marry Zeena who he had to take care of because of his moral compass and uncontrollable forces. Then finally, he remained in Starkfield after the suicide attempt. His ultimate fate proves the trap Starkfield proves to be for Ethan, who symbolizes the strictest of moralists. Although some may call him a loser, Ethan had little to no control over his situation. The cards he had been dealt with were limited. Additionally, he may have avoided the issues easily if he did not believe in morals. Becoming immoral makes life in general much easier. Morals can restrict an individual from a simple, promising life. They need to become selfless and act considerate towards others. Whether by taking care of the sick or making sure to satisfy everyone at the expense of oneself, living with a moral code can cause people to act different ways than others. It largely depends on how much of a moralist a person is. For some people, unfortunately, strictly living by a moral code can act as a harmful agent to someone’s