I had to read the book for school, and it wasn't that terrible. But I think the entire book really has a logical prograssion to it, makes sense and is reasonably realistic until Ethan and Mattie attempt to commit suicide and instead hurt themselves really badly. If they loved each other that much, run away together. How far west did they have to go?
Here's my explanation.
Warning:I am absolutely 110% intolerant of adultery. I find it absolutely, completely and in all other ways unacceptable in all situations that you can be in. And this is reflected in my opinions of novels.
Ethan was not out to hurt Zeena. That's not what he wanted. And I think that he knew that Zeena had a dream of their marriage that didn't work out as well. So, I think that Ethan knew that to run away with Maddie would hurt her, and he couldn't bare to go live with Maddie, knowing that he had injured Zeena, but also didn't want to live without Maddie. So, they wanted to die together.
I commend Ethan's choice to not run away with Maddie. It is not okay to go around marrying people and then running off. If you have a legitimate reason to get divorced, go ahead. But if you don't, MAKE IT WORK. I know that people always say, "Well, divorce was difficult back then." Doesn't matter. You made the choice to marry them, and unless they're abusing you, it is your job to commit everything that you can to that marriage. "I don't really love him/her," is never an acceptable excuse for adultery. Ever. If it's truly not working out, talk to your spouse and make it work. That's your job. You will learn to love them. I don't believe in soul mates, and I don't believe that it's impossible to love any given person. You've made a commitment, now own up and do what you vowed to do. If it is absolutely impossible, and you've tried absolutely everything, then it's time to start talking about divorce. Marriage isn't happily ever after, it's the means to working towards it.
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