sorbed in her health” (Wharton 46). Zeena’s hypochondriac behavior causes her to be an unbearable person, dwelling on her own self-predicted dismal future. Zeena is a miserable woman, and she makes those around her miserable. Ethan says he “did not remember ever having heard her laugh before” (Wharton, 57). Ethan says of Zeena’s forcing Mattie to leave without real reason “she had taken everything from him and now she meant to take the one thing that made up for all the others” (Wharton 85). Obviously, Zeena is forcing Mattie to leave to make Ethan more miserable; the night before the girl’s departure, Zeena had a “faint smile” that “deepened the vertical lines between her nose and chin” (Wharton 89). Later, when Ethan and Mattie are loading Mattie’s things onto the wagon, the corners of Zeena’s “straight lips seemed to quiver way into a smile” (Wharton 106). When Mattie is trying to thank Zeena for the year of work and board, Zeena only wants to talk to Mattie about some personal possessions she suspects Mattie of stealing. She is completely uninterested in whether the girl has anywhere to go or not. When Ethan meets Jotham after he has brought Zeena back to the farm, Jotham is in poor spirits. Ethan wonders if maybe Zeena did not get to see the doctor because if she did not, “the first person she met would likely be held responsible for her grievance” (Wharton 52). Zeena’s mean nature affects everyone around her. Selfishness is apparent in Zeena. An example of Zeena’s selfishness is the way she refuses to use her red pickle dish: she says “I wouldn’t never use it, not even when the minister come to dinner or Aunt Martha Pierce” (Wharton, 91). Zeena’s selfishness is further exemplified when Mattie is leaving and she “I know there is a huckabuck towel missing; and I cannot tak...
