The description of a person being alive but dead is one not often used but is reserved for those who are truly and sincerely unhappy with their lives. They are seen as those who have lost all hope and will to live and yet their bodies are still alive and running through the routine of life. Another word to describe people in this state would be cold, not as in hostile, but as in the cold wind of death and unhappiness. These ideas of cold and the living dead are ones seen throughout Edith Wharton's book titled Ethan Frome. The idea of cold is shown literally in this book by the setting being in the winter time. Just as the setting described in Ethan Frome is cold and barren, so are a few of the personalities and relationships detailed in the book.

People in everyday life personify the...