Ethan Frome, Chapter 9 summary
Chapter 9 of 10 · 30 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 9, Ethan drives Mattie away from the farm, and their admission of mutual love leads them to aim a sled at an elm rather than separate. Both survive, and the narrator’s visit reveals Mattie disabled, Zeena caring for both of them, and all three confined by poverty and lasting misery.
What happens
- Ethan helps carry Mattie’s trunk and insists on driving her himself, despite Zeena’s demand that he stay home.
- At Shadow Pond, Ethan and Mattie recall a summer picnic before admitting their shared wish to leave together.
- After a safe sled ride, Mattie begs Ethan to strike the elm so they never have to separate.
- Ethan steers toward the tree, but both remain alive after the collision, with Mattie making faint sounds of pain.
- The narration shifts to the visitor, who finds Mattie disabled and complaining while Zeena prepares their meal.
- Mrs. Hale describes Zeena’s long care for both injured people and the household’s poverty, quarrels, and isolation.
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In this chapter
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Who proposes aiming the sled at the elm?
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