Battle Of The Books: Ethan Frome Vs. Of Mice And Men Research Paper Between These Two Books Of Which Book Is Better

Battle of the Books: Ethan Frome vs. Of Mice and MenMany novels are meant to be enjoyed by the reader as they are read. Some novels may relate to everyday relationships, while others may relate to society in general. Two authors that deal with these topics are Edith Wharton and John Steinbeck. Edith Wharton born Edith Newbold Jones to a wealthy family in New York combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous and incisive novels and short stories. On the other hand, John Steinbeck, born on February 27, 1902, in Salinas, California spent his summers working on nearby ranches. His inspiration came from everyday life as a work ...view middle of the document...

The themes and motifs are also a very important part of appeal to a novel for they give an atmosphere to the story being told. On the other hand, the literary parts used in the novel Of Mice and Men are different from those of Ethan Frome.On the same topic, the setting of this novel is taken place South of Soledad, California around the 1930s. This novel is told from the point of view of a third-person omniscient narrator, who can access the point of view of any character as required by the narrative. This novel’s tone is sentimental, tragic, doomed, fatalistic, rustic, moralistic, and comic. The genre of this novel is fictional and tragic. The characters in this novel have a variety of personalities. For example, one main character George Milton has a very caring personality. In one part of the novel, George says “When his aunt Clara died, Lennie just come along with me out workin’. Got kinda used to each other after a little while” (Steinbeck, 40).For other reasons, many novels are more interesting than others which may be more appealing to one reader or more. Ethan Frome, a tragic romance which is set in a fictional, wintry New England town named Starkfield, where an unnamed narrator tells the story of his encounter with Ethan Frome, a man with dreams and desires that end in an ironic turn of events. The narrator tells the story based on an account from observations at Frome's house when he had to stay there during a winter storm. 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. After questioning various locals with little result, the narrator finally comes to learn the details of Ethan’s “smash-up” when a violent snowstorm forces the narrator into an overnight stay at the Frome household.On the same topic, the major conflict of this novel was when Ethan’s main fight is with his own conscience, as he decides whether or not to reveal to Mattie his true feelings. "Their evening together had given him a vision of what life at her side might be, and he was glad now that he had done nothing to trouble the sweetness of the picture" (Chapter 6). The climax of this novel is when Ethan and Mattie confess their love for each other and decide to commit suicide by sledding into a large tree. The falling action was that Ethan and Mattie regain consciousness after crashing into the tree; Ethan takes both of them in and cares for them into old age.His struggles are exacerbated by his surroundings such as Zeena his wife, the bleak Starkfield landscape, and his home which often takes on an oppressive quality. Mattie was Zeena’s cousin and Ethan’s lover. This novel shows how even though Ethan and Zeena are married; Ethan loves Mattie more than he could possibly love Zeena. "It's bad enough to see the two women sitting there - but his fa...