They finish their first run smoothly, though they narrowly
miss the elm that stands at the foot of the first slope. As they
climb back up the hill together, Ethan is struck with the thought
that these are their last moments in each other’s company. At the
top of the hill, Mattie breathlessly asks Ethan if this was the
same place where he once saw Ned Hale and Ruth Varnum kiss each
other, and she embraces him in a kiss of their own. As they say
their goodbyes—still refusing to accept them as goodbyes—and kiss
again, the church clock strikes five. Unable to bear the prospect
of parting from Ethan, Mattie solemnly requests that Ethan steer
the sled so they coast directly into the elm tree and die together.
Ethan’s initial astonishment quickly gives way to his own desire
to escape a future without Mattie. Locked in a lover’s embrace once
again, Ethan holds Mattie close and feels her sobbing, as the train
whistle sounds.
The two pile onto the sled together, with Ethan sitting
in front, and Ethan sets the sled into its fatal motion. As they
hurtle down the hill, Ethan feels confident that they will hit the
tree, but at the last moment he swerves unexpectedly, as he seems
to see Zeena’s malignant face before him. The sled glides off in
a second of uncertainty before he rights it on its course again.
They then hit the elm.
Ethan, dazed from the impact, hears the faint noises of
what he takes to be a small animal in pain, and he makes a weakened
effort to attend to it. After removing a heavy mass from on top
of him, he reaches out to feel what he discovers to be Mattie’s
hair and face. Rising to his knees, he bends down toward Mattie’s
face, seeing her eyes open and hearing her utter his name. He moans
softly back to her. Hearing his horse whinny at the top of the hill,
he is brought back to the world and the duties that face him there.
Analysis
From the beginning of this chapter the sense of despair
and desperation begins to mount, with time running out for Ethan
and Mattie. In this somber mood, the sense of unavoidable doom grows,
and the narrative builds up to its dramatic climax. In his emotional
strain, Ethan finds himself seemingly guided by the invisible force
of destiny: Wharton describes him feeling as though his heart were
tied with cords being tightened by the hand of fate. Due to this
“unseen hand,” Ethan relinquishes responsibility for his own actions,
pursuing his errand with Mattie as though directed by a greater
force. In a heartbeat, Ethan’s notions of ethical responsibility
have dissipated, and his entire sense of accountability vanishes
along with it.
The dynamics between Mattie and Ethan change subtly now
as Mattie, for the first time in the book, seizes the initiative
in their interactions: she takes the bold step of revealing her
knowledge of Ethan’s forsaken plan to elope with her and the even
bolder step of confessing her own longtime love for Ethan. Yet the
declaration brings no real happiness: now that we know that Ethan’s
passion is not one-sided, Mattie’s imminent departure takes on an
infinitely more tragic dimension. At the same time, Mattie’s daring
seems to bring out a dangerously reckless quality in Ethan, as he
gives in to a sudden impulse and proposes the sledding adventure.
In light of the book’s final circumstances, Ethan’s inner
thoughts in this scene create a sense of bitter irony. Poised at
the top of the hill for their first run, Ethan’s playful reassurance
to Mattie that he could go down the hill with his eyes closed foreshadows
their impending deliberate crash. Moreover, Ethan’s wish to keep
Mattie with him forever will attain a terrible form of realization
when Mattie is paralyzed in the ensuing crash and forced to stay
with the Fromes indefinitely. Similarly, Ethan’s thought that their
ascent up the hill will be the last time they walk together also
bears a grave dramatic irony: they will never walk together again,
as it turns out, not because Mattie is leaving him, but because
she will soon be unable to walk at all.
