"PS: I like BBM as much as the next Brokie, but if I take two steps back and process the narcissistic way Ennis treated Cassie, that makes Ennis a Bad Person. My mantra, courtesy of Ann Landers is “The true measure of a human is how he or she treats his fellow man. Integrity and compassion cannot be learned in college, nor are these qualities inherited in the genes.”
Ennis is a gentleman, decent and noble to the core, and that's why it was such an internal struggle for him to have feelings for Jack, not only because he didn't understand it and had fears, but also because he had committments to Alma, and especially his children. It may look like he was "leading on" Alma, and perhaps the way he blew her off was cold, but that again is part of the tragedy....in that diner scene, you can hear in his voice that he was just empty, and as much as he may have wanted to do the right thing in regards to Cassie, he had lost the emotional capability to do so.
Whiteoutofthemoon, I agree with you.
On the other hand, JakeTwist, I totally disagree with Ann Landers, but I should probably save that for the Ann Landers message board. (Briefly, though, I think those qualities most certainly
can be inherited in the genes, and probably even learned in college -- at college age, anyway, if not in an actual classroom.)
I think Ennis was probably fine to Cassie, aside from leading her on out of some mixture of passivity and his own fears -- at least until the end, when he broke up with her in an unquestionably cruel way. Also, the actual decision to break up with her -- if not the method -- may have been motivated at least partly by kindness. But when I said politeness, etc., were among his attractive qualities, I was referring more to his manner at the very beginning, when she was still serving him beers and decided to hit on him.
And Jake, you are much more observant than I am. I guess I never noticed the banner and calculated the years. I always just figured both the Cassie and Randall relationships hadn't been going on long before Ennis and Jack talked about them. I guess I might have thought Ennis, especially, would have mentioned the good-looking little gal he was putting the blocks to earlier. (With Jack, I guess it would make sense he'd been seeing Randall for a while before he obliquely confessed to Ennis. But he'd only mentioned Randall to his dad that spring.)
And Jeff, I agree that Cassie's Carl line was partly a slap at Ennis, but as she said it while rolling her eyes and making a face and immediately after, "Who, Carl?!?" it was also meant to indicate how little he (Carl) interested her.
Sorry Katherine, I know you are a Heathen!
What, have I mentioned this before?!