"Under the Granite Outcroppings of Ethan Frome"

This essay was a very interesting point of view on Ethan Frome. During this esay, titled "Under the Granite Outcroppings of Ethan Frome", the author Helen Killoran disputes the critique Lionel Trilling by stating that Ethan is not the moral center of this book, but that Zeena is. During this book Killoran uses the metaphor of the "granite outcroppings" as a reference to Zeena. During this essay everyone sees Ethan as the tragic hero of the novella instead of seeing Zeena as the moral center of the book who is "under" the story. One technique that Killoran uses is attempting to make Zeena human by explaining the way that she is. In attempting to make Zeena human Killoran explains that Zeena is a Stoicist, that she is not cold, but logical. Killoran uses qoutes from the book as well as little hints to back her conclusions about Ethan Frome. She explains that, possibly, Zeena had a miscarriage and thats why she is so distant from Ethan. Another one of her main points was that according to Stoicism Ethan was not a tragic hero, but a coward. This she got based off the Stoic definition of a coward being one who doesn't make decisions. I thought that the arguments were presented logically and understandably. Her thoughts were calm and collected. She backed all her facts with a logical explanation. I agree with the viewpoint of this essay because its a nice twist on the viewpoint. I think that this is how I look at Ethan Frome. Not through the turbulent emotions of Ethan, but through the cool recollections of Zeena.