Penthesilea, Latjoreme, hi! Thanks for the welcome, I am enjoing this thread.
The bus station - like you I always found it strange that he was in a bus station of all places. Especially considering that he seemed to have his favourite bar in town. It was the mention of men with black and white hats buying tickets (I have not spotted them yet, look forward to yet another detail to take in) that gave me this idea, as, like you, I have always been of the opinion that by that time Ennis was ready for some change. Probably going somewhere metaphorically rather than geographically for the time being (eg giving more of his time to Jack), but who knows, perhaps he was finally starting to give more consideration to that cow and calf operation?
Hi,
I just wanted to jump back in to the bus station discussion. That was something that I wondered about. To me it was one of the most heartbreaking images, to see Ennis sitting all alone in the bus station with no other people at the tables at all. I first thought how incredibly sad, that this is what his life is now reduced to. But then I decided that he chose to be in a place like that, he could have gone to the bar that he was in before, but he chose to be there all alone. In my viewpoint the breakdown at the lake left him so depressed and in such despair that he didn't want to be in a place where he could have met other people. I think that at the lake finally admitted to himself that he couldn't live without Jack, but maybe he felt like Jack left him alreadly.. (I wish we knew what they said after Ennis was crying in Jacks arms.) I think he chose to be in a place where he was totally alone because he was so broken and depressed at that point.
I believe thatthe conversation with Cassie changed him, when she said "I don't get you ...." I think that made him realize what he was doing to people and then he decided to change, and mailed the postcard to Jack.