Ethan Frome lost control of his life when his mother died. After his mother’s
funeral, Ethan did not want to be left alone on the farm, so he asked Zeena to
stay with him. At first, Ethan enjoys her company. However, Zeena soon becomes a
nuisance to Ethan, and prevents him from becoming an engineer in a large city.
After being married a year, Zeena becomes sick herself, and the only time she
talks to Ethan is to complain or show her discontent. After Mattie comes to the
farm, Ethan does not love Zeena at all. He thinks the only pleasure she has left
is to inflict pain on him. Since Zeena is a burden on Ethan, he naturally wants
to improve his life. The reason he does not have control of his life is because
he is married to Zeena, and he is not brave enough to go away with Mattie. The
reason he is married to Zeena is because his mother died. Since Zeena is why
Ethan does not have control of his life, and Ethan married her because his
mother died, the point in time when Ethan lost control of his life is when his
mother died. I believe Ethan could have changed the direction of his life if he
had gone away from the farm to marry Mattie. The reason he did not have control
of his life was because he was married to Zeena. If he would have married Mattie
and left Zeena, he would not have been in the sled accident, and consequently,
he would have lived a much happier life with Mattie. The second way Ethan could
have changed the direction of his life is if he would have sold the farm and
never have married Zeena. This would have saved him many years of problems and
unhappiness. He would never have met Mattie, which means he would never have
injured himself in the sled accident. If he would have lived in another town
besides Starkfield, he might have been an engineer and married a woman who would
treat him better than Zeena ever did.