vain effort, rose up in his soul in bitterness and
             seemed to take shape before him in the woman who at every turn had
             barred his way. She had taken everything from him, and now she meant
             to take the one thing that made up for all the others. (117-8)
             This statement allows us to see the Ethan's utter despair and it also
             allows us to see how incapable he is of making a decision on his own
             Ethan then looks at his wife with loathing. We are old, "She was no
             longer the listless creature who had lived at his side in a state of sullen
             self-absorption, but a mysterious alien presence, an evil energy secreted
             from the long years of silent brooding" (117-8). In addition, we know it
             was Ethan's, "sense of helplessness that sharpened his antipathy" (118).
             What is striking about Ethan's character is how he literally hates his wif
             ...