Ethan frome Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethan frome - Essay Example This problem is evident in the character of Ethan in the movie. He is vocal about his feelings in the movie as compared to the book. He rarely interacts with Mattie in the novel, but in the movie, their style of conversation is active and noticeable. The kitchen scene is the key to understand this difference. In the movie, from the beginning Ethan is quite vocal and expressive about his feelings to Mattie but in the book there exists a studied silence between the two. The other incidental difference in the kitchen scene is, in the movie the cat breaks Zeena’s dish; in the book Mattie breaks it. In the movie the character of Ethan is not as pivotal as it is in the book. In the book, the beginning and end are constructed from the point of view of the narrator, and Ethan’s actions figure prominently and his view on life pervades through the story. In the first scene in the movie the narrator arrives at Starkfield as a Minister and sees Ethan in the train station; in the book the story begins in a post office and Ethan picks up a package; there is no Minister in the book. Ethan is an entirely different personality in the movie. His communication with Mattie is shown in a different wavelength as compared to the book. His disposition with the people of Starkfield is also different. About the interaction of the people with Ethan Edith Wharton writes, â€Å"Everyone in Starkfield knew him and gave him a greeting tempered to his own grave mien; but his taciturnity was respected and it was only on rare occasions that one of the older men of the place detained him for a word.†(5)He prefers silence with them as per the depiction of his personality in the book, and in the movie he is quite vocal expressing his opinions with the bystanders who look upon him with curiosity kindled. The support to Ethan comes from different point of views in the novel