Ethan goes to The Office
I've already stated how much I love the NBC version of The Office, particularly after it found its legs in its second season by fleshing out the storylines of Jim, Michael, Pam and the rest of the gang. And the primary storyline which has enthralled The Wife and I is that of the romance between Jim and Pam, or the lackthereof (seeing how she's engaged to another individual).
Aside from the obvious reasons I like the show - namely the humor - I've really enjoyed this subtle examination of love, and I think a lot of folks are overlooking it because of the sheer silliness of the show. It's taken me a bit to determine why I really like this particular storyline, and it finally dawned on me after 'The Booze Cruise' episode - The Office is a rather clever adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome.
I'm stretching a bit, aren't I?
Hear me out though.
Ever since I first read Ethan Frome during my junior year in high school (WEST-side! 1995 state champs baby! ... er, sorry), it's been my favorite book. I thought it featured beautiful language and wove a complicated love story that, while ultimately tragic, contained hopeful elements to it.
The book tells the story of Ethan Frome, a man trapped in a loveless marriage with his wife Zeena in the barren and dismal landscape of New England in the winter. Zeena, a sickly woman, is taken care of by her younger cousin, Mattie Silver. Everything Zeena isn't, Mattie is ... and Ethan falls in love with her. But, being married already and fearing that Mattie has her romantic interests elsewhere, he keeps his feelings bottled up inside.
Instead, Ethan relishes in the mundane. Things like escorting Mattie back from her weekly trip in to town constitute the best part of his week.
And that's the part of the story that is most impressive to me. There are tons of other elements at work in Ethan Frome - the psychology of the bleak landscape being one primary one - but they don't possess the same hold over me as the descriptions of unrequited love found throughout the book. What's most powerful to me is how Wharton is so clearly and so passionately able to articulate what it feels like to have deep romantic feelings for someone, yet feel as if you will never be able to disclose those feelings.
And that's why I partially connected with it because, well, I had a crush on a girl (one which lasted for quite some time). Granted while that relationship didn't exactly work out, I would feel the same feelings later in my life for The Wife (during the arduous year before I was finally brave enough to ask her out on a date). It's safe to say anyone who has ever been in love with - or, at the very least, had romantic feelings for - someone who was unaware has experienced the emotions Ethan experienced.
That's what makes it parallel The Office so closely. Strip away the unnecessary elements such as Ethan's marriage or Mattie's availability, and you get to the crux of the story. Jim feels the same sort of exasperated, yet abounding love for Pam that Ethan held for Mattie. And we are led to believe Pam holds the same feelings for him, but the social constructs of their environment (the office) and their circumstances (her engagement) prevent them from fulfilling their desires.
So, Jim relishes in the mundane - he enjoys playing jokes on fellow office mates with Pam (the placing of all of Dwight's items in the vending machine was tremendous) and longs for their shared walk to the car at the end of the work day.
And, as in the recent episode 'The Carpet,' we see Jim grow forelorn when he feels Pam is moving away from him. As her fiancee spends the day up in the office and Jim is relegated to a temporary seat in the back of the office, he is quite miserable. He feels her slipping away from him and, at the end of the episode, does his best to soldier on by asking another woman out on a date.
But when he returns to his desk, he finds seven messages on his voicemail. They are all from Pam, and they run the gamut from her missing having him around to talk with to more inside jokes she has for him, and only him.
The smile on his face grows bigger, and his worries are washed away. This incredibly simple act of kindness, this geniune token of friendship, has reaffirmed his love for her, and one can almost hear Wharton's description in the background:
The other he tried to slip through hers; but she eluded him nimbly, and Frome's heart, which had swung out over a black void, trembled back to safety.
One of the central themes I took away from Ethan Frome was the beauty and purity of unexpressed love. The only boundaries and restrictions on unexpressed love is that of the imagination. It remains clean and wholesome. Once the love between Ethan and Mattie becomes apparent, the relationship grows murky. The wonder of those nighttime walks vanish as they have wrestle with the choices they have made.
And that's where The Office is right now - dealing with the unexpressed love between Jim and Pam. When the two finally cross that bridge and begin sorting with their feelings in the real world, and not simply enjoying the imaginary constructs of their mind, things will get more complicated.
Aside from the obvious reasons I like the show - namely the humor - I've really enjoyed this subtle examination of love, and I think a lot of folks are overlooking it because of the sheer silliness of the show. It's taken me a bit to determine why I really like this particular storyline, and it finally dawned on me after 'The Booze Cruise' episode - The Office is a rather clever adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome.
I'm stretching a bit, aren't I?
Hear me out though.
Ever since I first read Ethan Frome during my junior year in high school (WEST-side! 1995 state champs baby! ... er, sorry), it's been my favorite book. I thought it featured beautiful language and wove a complicated love story that, while ultimately tragic, contained hopeful elements to it.
The book tells the story of Ethan Frome, a man trapped in a loveless marriage with his wife Zeena in the barren and dismal landscape of New England in the winter. Zeena, a sickly woman, is taken care of by her younger cousin, Mattie Silver. Everything Zeena isn't, Mattie is ... and Ethan falls in love with her. But, being married already and fearing that Mattie has her romantic interests elsewhere, he keeps his feelings bottled up inside.
Instead, Ethan relishes in the mundane. Things like escorting Mattie back from her weekly trip in to town constitute the best part of his week.
And that's the part of the story that is most impressive to me. There are tons of other elements at work in Ethan Frome - the psychology of the bleak landscape being one primary one - but they don't possess the same hold over me as the descriptions of unrequited love found throughout the book. What's most powerful to me is how Wharton is so clearly and so passionately able to articulate what it feels like to have deep romantic feelings for someone, yet feel as if you will never be able to disclose those feelings.
And that's why I partially connected with it because, well, I had a crush on a girl (one which lasted for quite some time). Granted while that relationship didn't exactly work out, I would feel the same feelings later in my life for The Wife (during the arduous year before I was finally brave enough to ask her out on a date). It's safe to say anyone who has ever been in love with - or, at the very least, had romantic feelings for - someone who was unaware has experienced the emotions Ethan experienced.
That's what makes it parallel The Office so closely. Strip away the unnecessary elements such as Ethan's marriage or Mattie's availability, and you get to the crux of the story. Jim feels the same sort of exasperated, yet abounding love for Pam that Ethan held for Mattie. And we are led to believe Pam holds the same feelings for him, but the social constructs of their environment (the office) and their circumstances (her engagement) prevent them from fulfilling their desires.
So, Jim relishes in the mundane - he enjoys playing jokes on fellow office mates with Pam (the placing of all of Dwight's items in the vending machine was tremendous) and longs for their shared walk to the car at the end of the work day.
And, as in the recent episode 'The Carpet,' we see Jim grow forelorn when he feels Pam is moving away from him. As her fiancee spends the day up in the office and Jim is relegated to a temporary seat in the back of the office, he is quite miserable. He feels her slipping away from him and, at the end of the episode, does his best to soldier on by asking another woman out on a date.
But when he returns to his desk, he finds seven messages on his voicemail. They are all from Pam, and they run the gamut from her missing having him around to talk with to more inside jokes she has for him, and only him.
The smile on his face grows bigger, and his worries are washed away. This incredibly simple act of kindness, this geniune token of friendship, has reaffirmed his love for her, and one can almost hear Wharton's description in the background:
The other he tried to slip through hers; but she eluded him nimbly, and Frome's heart, which had swung out over a black void, trembled back to safety.
One of the central themes I took away from Ethan Frome was the beauty and purity of unexpressed love. The only boundaries and restrictions on unexpressed love is that of the imagination. It remains clean and wholesome. Once the love between Ethan and Mattie becomes apparent, the relationship grows murky. The wonder of those nighttime walks vanish as they have wrestle with the choices they have made.
And that's where The Office is right now - dealing with the unexpressed love between Jim and Pam. When the two finally cross that bridge and begin sorting with their feelings in the real world, and not simply enjoying the imaginary constructs of their mind, things will get more complicated.
posted by Jmac at 6:51 PM
1 Comments:
Fabulous analysis! :) I freakin' love The Office. The other day at work, some people were talking trash about it, and I poked my head over the wall of my cube and told them to shut up with their sacrilege. Seriously, it's one of the best shows on TV.
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