1. Living Death: Imagery in Ethan Frome
... the snow-(Wharton 12). Wharton employs the image of hemlock boughs to bring to mind the fatal poison that tree produces and symbolize the burdens Ethan must bare which slowly poison him, but keep him alive to suffer. Wharton further surrounds Ethan in death images when he and Mattie walk home "through the blackness of the hemlock shaded lane- and see "here ... a vision of her "face, with twisted monstrous lineaments, thrust between himself and his goal- (Wharton 122). Wharton's use of Zeena in conjunction with the elm tree allows her to foreshadow the fact that Ethan will not die as he ...
- Word Count: 2068
- Approx Pages: 8
- Grade Level: Undergraduate