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The first is right after Mattie and Ethan crash into the elm tree, at the end of Chapter 9. The second ending happens at the end of the Epilogue, 24 years later. It is this second ending that makes the story brilliant, but also earns it a high rating on our creepy-meter.
In light of the book’s final circumstances, Ethan’s inner thoughts in this scene create a sense of bitter irony. Poised at the top of the hill for their first run, Ethan’s playful reassurance to Mattie that he could go down the hill with his eyes closed foreshadows their impending deliberate crash.
Lying in the snow after the crash, Ethan sees a star and wonders vaguely if it is the star Sirius. He feels very tired and hears a frightened twittering, like a small animal in pain, nearby under the snow.
Finding himself laid up in the small New England town of Starkfield for the winter, the narrator sets out to learn about the life of a mysterious local named Ethan Frome, who had a tragic accident some twenty years earlier.
- Edith Wharton
- 1911
The climactic scene in Ethan Frome was inspired by a sledding accident in Lenox in 1904 that killed one young woman and gravely injured four of her companions (Wharton knew one of the victims). The fatal paralysis of Wharton's neighbor Ethel Cram after a pony-cart accident in 1905 also played a role in shaping the narrative.
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Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like 1. Why is Mattie sitting on her trunk sobbing?, 2. What order does Ethan give Mattie after Zeena tells her to hurry up?, 3. Why is Daniel Byrne at Ethan's house? and more.
