In addition to that, Ethan has conflict not only with himself but with his life in general. Ethan is fighting with himself because he does not want to be alone and forgotten, so he tries to end that conflict by making the easy choice: he asks her to stay.
“He was seized with an unreasoning dread of being left alone… before he knew what he was doing he had asked her to stay there with him” (Wharton 29). His poor choice when he asked Zeena to stay was based on the conflict with himself. Ethan’s conflicts within himself cause him to make swift and unsure decisions that end in poor outcomes. With this in mind, the plot explains Ethan’s life in the prologue and epilogue to begin and end the tough life of Ethan Frome. This indicates the effect of all his bad choices: sad and full of suffering. Ethan’s life is not just defined in the beginning of the book his life is also wrapped up in the end saying “…It’s him that suffers the most” (Wharton 77). This displays how the reader knows that Ethan’s life is full of tragedy and how his choices lead to it. In the very beginning of the book, Ethan is portrayed as a man who has been through devastating events that cause him to have “something bleak and unapproachable in his face…” (Wharton 1). The author also defines Ethan’s character in the beginning and end of the book to show that his choices lead to his sad life within the plot. These choices bring the plot further along and cause the rest of the story to rest on them. He can’t love his wife, and when he falls for Mattie it changes his whole life. “Oh Matt I can’t let you go!” (Wharton 70) He says as he confesses his love for her. In addition to that, instead of falling in love with the girl he did marry, Ethan starts loving Mattie, causing the plot to move even further on. This indicates how marrying Zeena, turns his life around as he takes a different path. When “He asked to stay with him” (Wharton 29), Ethan creates his first choice that leads to the next. The choices that Ethan makes are main steps in the plot that allow an opening for the next step further in the book.
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