Essay Question : To what extent is Ethan a victim, and what is he a victim of? Ethan has all the qualities of being a victim. He could be a victim of Zeena's sickness and cruelty, victim of circumstances and chance, a victim of his endurance and the weather of Starkfield, a victim of his conscience, and why not, a victim of Mattie's attitude at the end of the novella. The question is; is he totally a victim, in all extents, or does Wharton portrays his as a victim? The author wants the reader to sympathise with Ethan, and she creates this effect showing him as a victim and perhaps exaggerating some of the victimisers, such as Zeena. He is a victim, but maybe not up to such point as the reader may think. He can also be to blame for many thing, but the author describes every single thing as if he was a victim of every circumstance in his life. This can be very effective, because readers usually sympathise with victims, and this is what she intended.The main victimiser in the novella is Zeena, evidently, but she is not the only one. Zeena makes Ethan be a victim since she develops the sickness and traps him in Starkfield. He can't go away, because he can't let her alone. Above this, Zeena makes him suffer and enjoys it. She is one of the main reasons of his unhappiness. He is a victim of her "obstinate silence" and of her "microscopic cruelty". The lack of communication and the lack of communion between them make the marriage a fallacy, and he needed someone to talk with. The writer shows Zeena as a victimiser, specifying this in the text and including the reader in Ethan's thoughts: "there had never been anything in her that one could appeal to". Zeena is one of the symbols of the impossibility of his happiness, she had "taken everything else from him".Ethan is also a victim of circumstances. He is a victim of determinism and fatalism: he is helpless against fate and circumstances, he can't change what will happen, and at the same time, everything in his life ends up wrong. First he couldn't escape from Starkfield, when he would have liked to, because he "had to stay and care for the folks". He couldn't do anything about it. Then, he couldn't go away due to Zeena's illness and to economic crisis, he was also helpless. There are many moments which mark this fact of Ethan being limited by chance. For example, in chapter 2, when Mattie is with Denis Eady and he can't do anything to be with her: "she stood perfectly still , looking after him, in an attitude of tranquil expectancy torturing to the hidden watcher." In chapter 4, when...
