This is important, because it helps the reader to be able to identify and understand the emotions that main characters are feeling. As the use of these two elements are: illustrating the challenges that are being faced and the sense of frustration in not addressing them. At which point, these disappointments will affect the relationship that the different characters (throughout the novel) will have towards one another. (Wharton, 2009)

What are the forces that contribute to Ethan Frome's tragic fate? Is Edith Wharton trying to suggest that he is a man who is extremely unlucky, and is therefore destined to failure and hardship? Or is she trying to make the naturalistic case that his fate is determined by heredity and environment? Or is his fate a combination of both factors?

The forces that contribute to Ethan Frome's fate are: the inability to express his emotions to Mattie, the fear that...
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