Desire Under the Elms

Desire Under the Elms

Sympathy is given to those who suffer for no reason . When a person goes through rough times because of issues that were beyond his control , he deserves the sympathy of others

However , not all victims deserve sympathy . In most cases , the suffering of victims is somehow the consequence of their own actions or decisions Although they may not directly cause their suffering , in one way or another , their actions , words , or decisions may have led other people to inflict pain unto them

In Desire Under the Elms [banner_entry_middle]

, the three major characters all go through suffering . They all are victims for different types of agony . Eben is a victim for he lost his mother due to his father ‘s mistreatment of her He goes to jail for a crime he did not commit himself but may have indirectly caused such crime to be committed . Abbie not only lost a husband but lost her son as well . Moreover , she goes to jail for murdering her son out of a supposed great love for Eben . On the other hand , Cabot is a victim of deception and deceit by both his wife and his son . All along he thinks that he has a son but what he fails to recognize is the fact that he is being cheated on by both his wife and his son

In essence , there are no genuine victims in the story . No one among the characters deserves sympathy for each one of them has directly or indirectly caused their own suffering . Sympathy is only deserved by genuine victims . No one among the characters is a genuine victim and thus , no one deserves sympathy

Among the three characters , it would seem as if Eben maybe considered as the victim . First , he loses his mother and it would seem as if his own father neglects him and mistreats him . Indeed , these are valid reasons for him to be given sympathy . However , by entering into an illicit affair with his own stepmother , he loses any right to such sympathy . It can be said that his affair with Abbie is the product of his hatred for his father and uses such affair as a form of revenge against him . He has caused suffering for another individual , regardless of whether the person has done him wrong . In doing so , Eben cannot and should not be given sympathy . He can no longer be considered a victim for he has acted upon his grief and suffering by causing suffering for others . More importantly , Eben should not be given sympathy for he indirectly caused the death of his own son . By saying , I wish he never was born ! I wish he ‘d die this minit ! I wish I ‘d never sot eyes on him ! It ‘s him–yew havin ‘ him–a-purpose t ‘ steal–that ‘s changed everythin (Part Three , Scene 2 , Eben drove Abbie to kill their child . As such , no sympathy should be given to Eben and to Abbie . Both of them have caused pain… [banner_entry_footer]