The story of Ethan Fromes life - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1166 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/08/02 Category Literature Essay Level High school Tags: Ethan Frome Essay Did you like this example? In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, the story of Ethan Fromes life leading to his present circumstances is evaluated by the narrator, a man trapped in Starkfield, Massachusetts due to one of the areas infamous storms. When discussing Ethan, the narrator proclaims, Guess hes been in Starkfield too many winters. Most of the smart ones get away (Wharton 4). Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The story of Ethan Fromes life" essay for you Create order As the narrator explains, the winters in Starkfield are extremely rough and seemingly never-ending, having an extremely detrimental impact on its inhabitants. Throughout the novel, Ethan expresses the desire to leave Starkfield and start a new life, yet he is trapped in his life of unhappiness, similar to how the winter storms trap the residents of Starkfield in their homes. In Edith Whartons novel, Ethan Frome, the harsh winters of Starkfield symbolize the depression and imprisonment that Ethan experiences through his marriage, revealing the isolation that the physical environment of Starkfield has caused for Ethan and its detrimental effects on his life. The main impairment in Ethans life is his wife, Zeena, and her illness. Due to the fact that the story is mostly told in Ethans point of view, the reader vividly sees Ethans opinion on his wife. He seems to despise her, describing her as harsh and cold. The winter has once again forced him to be trapped in a life he does not want due to the fact that he married Zeena after his mother died to avoid being alone during the cold winter months. Taking care of her is a chore to him, and disables him from leaving Starkfield and living the life he dreams of. Wharton says, His wifes retort was like a knife-cut across the sinews and he felt suddenly weak and powerless (48). The simile used by Wharton to describe the relationship between Ethan and Zeena exemplifies the theme of the impact that the winter has had on Ethan. Zeena, like the winters in Starkfield, has imprisoned Ethan. He is unable to leave Starkfield and pursue a career in engineering which was the dream of his youth. Eth ans relationship with Mattie and his yearn to commit adultery with her deepens his resentment towards Zeena. When Zeena kicks Mattie out of their house, Ethan truly realizes how trapped he is by his wife; Ethan looked at her with loathing. She was no longer the listless creature who had lived at his side in a state of sullen self-absorption, but a mysterious alien presence, an evil energy secreted from the long years of silent brooding (Wharton 48). Zeena exemplifies winter in Ethans life, a cold and unloving state that imprisons him in his house and misery. Ethans descriptions of Zeena portray the idea that she is an impediment on the improvement of his life, disabling him from happiness. In stark contrast to Zeena is Mattie, the warmth and light of Ethans life. When Mattie enters Ethans life in order to take care of Zeena, there is a revolution in Ethans world. His life has seemed to gain meaning, and he idolizes Mattie due to the fact that she is the polar opposite of Zeena. Wharton says, It was a fact that since Mattie Silvers coming he had taken to shaving every day; but his wife always seemed to be asleep when he left her side in the winter darkness (18). Once again, Zeena represents the winter to Ethan whereas Mattie is like summer through her warmth and appeal. When he is with Mattie, Ethan takes care of himself and enjoys living, yet he cannot escape the coldness of Zeena. This is reflects the idea that the residents of Starkfield cannot escape the cold, ongoing winter months. Opposing the negative descriptions that Ethan gives Zeena such as her being old and unfeminine Mattie is presented to be young and endearing. Her wardrobe exudes warmth, includin g a red decoration symbolizing the passion that Ethan feels for her. Wharton explains, He kept his eyes fixed on her, marveling at the way her face changed with every turn of their talk, like a wheat field under a summer breeze (38). Similar to how the plants thrive and grow during the summer months, Ethan is growing as a person when he is with Mattie. Through Mattie, Ethan sees the opportunity to leave this imprisonment and truly be happy, something that was never a possibility to him in the past. The emotions that Ethan has been feeling towards Mattie as well as his increasing distaste for his wife come to a climax when he goes sledding with Mattie. After Zeena has proclaimed that Mattie must leave, Ethan is left heartbroken and furious. He decides that he will bring Mattie home, and when they leave they decide to go on a sleigh ride. This is extremely ironic due to the fact that the cold environment caused by the winter in Starkfield up until this point has been a burden on Ethan. When he is with Mattie, however, he is able to enjoy his life despite the cold and the snow through this sleigh ride. The confirmation of Mattie and Ethans feelings for one another enables Ethan to be truly happy, and he does not want to return to the coldness of his marriage with Zeena. Ethans attempted suicide with Mattie exemplifies the severity of his dissatisfaction for his life before her. Ethans decision to steer the sled away from the tree, however, shows that like the people of Star kfield, no matter how hard Ethan tries he cannot escape the detriments of winter. When he begins to lead the sled into the tree, he sees a vision of Zeena; but suddenly his wifes face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust itself between him and his goal, and he made an instinctive movement to brush it aside (Wharton 69). Ethans decision to not commit suicide was fueled by his imprisonment to Zeena, and once again shows that like winter snow on a house Zeena has left him emotionally buried and unable to escape. The isolation of Ethan portrayed through the brutal winter of Starkfield is an extremely important theme throughout Ethan Frome. Ethans current life with Zeena is representative of the coldness and severity of the winter months in Starkfield. Ethan desperately wants to escape the winter that has imprisoned him into an unhappy life in Starkfield, and the opportunity to do so is presented to him through Mattie. Mattie embodies the exact opposite of Ethans current life; she is warm and inviting and encourages Ethans happiness. Like the people in Starkfield undergoing the seemingly constant winter weather, however, Ethan is unable to escape the reality of his life. This is shown in the fact that he does not follow through with his suicide attempt and is forced to live a life where he is trapped with Zeena taking care of him and a paralyzed Mattie. The cold, bitter winter symbolizes Ethans dissatisfaction in his current marriage and life, and the harsh truth presented at the end of the novel is that he is unable to escape it.

Domestic Violence Against Women - 6693 Words

Introduction Violence in the home is a subject of increasingly public concern. According to Davis in the Encyclopedia of Social Work, The most affected victims, physically and psychologically, are women, including single and married women and women separated or divorced from their partners (Davis, 1995, p.789). For years violence against women has been excluded from everyday conversations for many reasons. Women of all races and social levels are victims of violence in the home. There are many theories as to why this problem has been ignored for centuries with no focused attention. Violence is clearly a problem. Most agree that the solution to violence against women is to prevent it completely from ever occurring through†¦show more content†¦Physical abuse includes: confining one to a certain place, shoving, hitting, slapping, pulling hair, choking, kicking, scratching, or hurting you with a weapon... Sexual abuse includes: Forcing undesired sexual acts, mistreating sexual parts of your body, and rape... Emotional abuse includes: Threatening to utilize any of these types of abusive behavior is also considered to be abuse (Types of Abuse, n.d., Government Publication). Historical Overview Violence against women was an acceptable part of society in the early years of America. Many religious sanctions expected it from certain families as a way to maintain a stable relationship between a man and a woman. Some boundaries were set such as the ‘rule of thumb, as to where a man may not strike his wife with anything bigger or rounder than his thumb (Barusch, 2002). The movement of battered women began to take throttle during the early 1970s. It began with representatives and activist voicing the issue at hand. One argument was of the laws and policies dealing with violence inflicted in the home. Activist argued that because the legal system and police did not protect women, they were deprived of their liberty and property when forced to flee from abusive homes (Barusch, 2002, p.245). The battered womens movement was a grass roots effort that helped to bring to issue to the political forefront (Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, 2003). The femini stShow MoreRelatedDomestic Violence And Violence Against Women1662 Words   |  7 Pagesdefinition of domestic violence is, â€Å"Violent confrontation between family or household members involving physical harm, sexual assault, or fear of physical harm†. Domestic violence takes place in many forms, including physical assault, threats, sexual abuse, intimidation, etc. Domestic violence destroys the meaning behind a home and the feeling of a safe environment. No one man, woman, or child deserves to be abused. 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Domestic violence occurs in a relationship between intimate people. It can take many forms including sexual and physical abuse, threat of abuse and emotional. Domestic violence is mostly directed towards women, though men are abused but chances are minimal. Domestic violence happensRead MoreDomestic Violence Against Men and Women1449 Words   |  6 PagesDomestic Violence against Men and Women Sandra Marable Kaplan University CM-220 Professor Freiteg May 20, 2013 Whenever the thought of domestic violence comes to mind, more than often the visual picture is a women or a child. However, there is another side that has been ignored because it is pushed under the rug. The unfortunate fact is that men are the victims of domestic violence at least as often as women are. While the very idea of men is being beaten by their wivesRead MoreThe Issue Of Domestic Violence Against Women1497 Words   |  6 PagesOver the last 50 years the world has made huge strides against the issue of domestic violence against women. While this may seem like a great moral victory for us as a society we have a long way to go before the issue is under control. The very image of a man striking a woman immediately strikes a chord with most of us, causing great discomfort. If we switch the roles however the same proverbial chord lies there dormant. In fact when a man is struck in a movie by a woman it is often displayedRead MoreDomestic Violence Against Women And Children 1115 Words   |  5 PagesWomen aren’t the only victims of domestic violence. Society must recognise, support and protect all victims of domestic violence. Good morning everyone. Victoria’s CSA chief statistician Fiona Dowsley states domestic violence reports in Victoria have topped 70,000 cases in the last year. With these results it would be assumed that they would be directly related to women. Since the recent illegalisation of domestic violence results show that women and children aren’t the only victims. Domestic violenceRead MoreDomestic Violence Against Indigenous Women947 Words   |  4 Pagesarticle â€Å"Domestic violence against indigenous women is everybody’s problem† domestic violence is depicted as a serious social problem that involves â€Å"unspeakable acts of violence† that leaves victims experiencing fear and despair (Taylor 2014). More specifically, the social construction of domestic violence will be discussed with an emphasis on Aboriginal women and a typology of intimate partner violence. 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This new law, named the VAWA, acknowledged that violence against women is a crime with far-reaching, harmful consequences for families, children and society (Domestic and Sexual Violence Data Collection, A Report to Congress under the Violence Against Women Act, 1 [NIJ Research Report 1996]). To fight this violent crime problem, VAWA made federal domestic violence crimes to be act against by the Department of Justice. Reliable withRead MoreDomestic Violence Against Women Essay2203 Words   |  9 Pagesof Violence against Women (1993) defines violence against women as any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. (UN General Assembly 1993). It is violence in private life that comprises domestic violence against women. Also called Intimate Partner Abuse and Family Violence, it

Post Cold War Free Essays

Explain why the ending of the Cold War was not followed by a period of world peace and stability. ____________________________________________________________ ___________ The ending of the cold war did not leave any sign of hope for the world to live in peace and prosperity. Until this second, there are hundreds of men, women and children being killed, injured, raped and executed for various reasons, some which may be legit while others are war related objectives. We will write a custom essay sample on Post Cold War or any similar topic only for you Order Now The world, not sure if this is the right word for it now, has gone and still is through some very tremendous events in the last 17 years or so, starting off with the gulf war which shocked the world in one night, Kosovo war, Al-Aqsa Intifada, war in Afghanistan, war on terror and Iraq, the list can go on and on, some which remain in the books of history and some which are still written about in history books today as that they are ongoing conflicts and example would be the war on terror. To make this whole concept I just talked about more clearly, I will try to explain the reasons to why the ending of the Cold War was not followed by a period of world peace and stability, by talking about the gulf war and how one night changed the lives and situations of many nations, mainly Israel and Palestine and how the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) played a major role in this war, leading to the Palestinian Intifada and the current events that are happening right now. The Gulf war was simply a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force from 35 nations authorized by the United Nations (UN) and led primarily by the United States in order to liberate Kuwait. [1] The Gulf War had two major impacts. First, the war was a catalyst for regional changes that started several years before the eruption of the crisis itself. The polarization of the Arab world was intensified by the invasion of an Arab state by another. Second, the war demonstrated which political terms existed in the Middle East at the time of the Iraqi invasion. On a rhetorical level, Saddam Hussein established a link between the Persian Gulf crisis and the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, thus demonstrating the destabilizing effect of the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Iraqi leader compared the Iraqi invasion with the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and demanded Israeli withdrawal before even considering a pullback from Kuwait. [2] During the Gulf War, the Israeli public took a step to the right, legitimizing the sanctions the Likud-government posed on the Palestinians. The sanctions were a result of two circumstances: the failing of the Palestinians – especially the PLO and the moderate political leaders in the West Bank – to condemn the Iraqi invasion; and the images of Palestinians cheering the Iraqi Scuds raining down on Tel Aviv. [3] Israel closed the borders between ‘Israel-proper’ and the occupied territories, preventing Palestinian workers from attending their jobs in Israel. Despite an increase of nearly half a million in the Israeli population due to immigration from Russia between 1989 and 1991, the Israeli policy resulted in a reduction in the GDP and a deterioration of the economic situation activity (ibid. )[4]. For the Palestinians, an already difficult economic situation got worse. This resulted in a boomerang-effect for Israel, intensifying the level of conflict with the Palestinians With the outbreak of the intifada, the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict moved inside the occupied territories, and the Green-line was re-drawn. The broad mobilization of nearly all layers of the Palestinian society in the earliest stages of the uprising strengthened the national unity. This kind of communal uprising turned out to be more difficult for Israel to fight than the PLO-launched guerilla-attacks from Arab territory during the 1970’s (Hunter 1991). Despite the optimism[5], the standard of living continued to deteriorate because of the mass-arrests, arbitrary detention and curfews carried out by the Israeli security forces (IDF and the border police). While many would agree that the mentioned above can be directly linked to the events that are going right now in Palestine and that have went on for the last couple of years, many would disagree, but if you want to look at it from a historical angle, it has a lot to do with the Gulf War. The end of the Cold War is a main point of reference in this analysis. However, important changes affecting the political situation in the Middle East started years before the Berlin-Wall was torn down, and the Soviet Empire crumbled. Therefore one might ask if the ‘window of opportunity’ would have ‘opened’ if the Cold War had continued. Would the locally initiated structural changes by themselves created a momentum for peace? My answer is that the combined effects of changes at the extra-regional level (the end of the Cold War), the regional level (the Gulf War), and the local level (the intfada) in sum ‘opened’ the window and let groups in the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships willing and ready to negotiate peace inside. Ultimately, Israel was successful in containing the uprising. The Palestinians’ force was inferior in relation to the well equipped and trained Israeli Defense Forces. However, the Intifada pinpointed numerous problems with the IDF’s conduct in the operative and tactical fields, as well as the general problem of Israel’s prolonged control of the West Bank and Gaza strip. These problems were noticed and widely criticized, both in international forums (in particular, when humanitarian questions were at stake), but also in Israeli public opinion, in which the Intifada had caused a split. 6] Bibliography 1. Abadi, Jacob (1994): â€Å"The Gulf War and Its Implications for Israel†. Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Vol 17, No. 3 (55-78). 2. Freedman, Robert. The middle East after Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait, University Press of Florida, 1993 (213-215) 3. Walsh, Ben. Modern world history, John Murray, London, 2001 4. Choueiri, Youssef M. (1997): Islamic fundamentalism -rev. ed. London : Pinter 5. Kuper , Adam and Jessica Kuper (eds. ) (1996): The Social Science Encyclopedia (Second edition). London and New York: Routledge. 6. Keddie, Nikki R. (1992): â€Å"The end of the Cold War and the Middle East†. In Hogan (ed. ) The End of the Cold War. Its meaning and implications (151-161). 7. Clarke, Richard. Against all enemies: Inside America’s war on terror, Free Press, 2004 (62-64) 8. Benny Morris, Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999, Knopf, 1999. p. 612 ———————– [1] The reported number of countries participating in the Coalition varies according to source. These variations may be in part be due to uncertainty over what level of participation constitutes being a Coalition member, and vagueness over the organization timeline of the Coalition. Examples of count variations include: an Arab anti-Gulf War essay – 31; CNN – 34; an Arab media site – 36; the Heritage Foundation (a US conservative think tank citing a 1991 Department of Defense report) – 38; US Institute of Medicine report on Gulf War Veterans’ Health – 39. The number of Coalition members has been reported to be as low as 19 at the beginning of the air campaign. 2] Freedman, Robert. The middle East after Iraq’s Invasion of Kuwait, University Press of Florida, 1993 [3] Even the Peace Now-organization and well known peace-activists like Amoz Oz and Yael Dayan supported the sanctions the Likud-government posed on the Palestinians [4] Kuper, Adam and Jessica Kuper (eds. ) (1996): The Social Science Encyclopedia (Second edition). London and New York: Routledge. [5] Choueiri, Youssef M. (1997): Islamic fundamentalism -rev. ed. London : Pinter [6] Benny Morris, Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-1999, Knopf, 1999. p. 612 How to cite Post Cold War, Papers