at least I hope these are new thoughts... I've never heard this discussed before
I've always wondered what the significance was of Jr. leaving her sweater behind in Ennis's trailer in that final scene, as we've all always said, it seems as if everything in this movie is done for a reason. After watching the DVD finally tonight I think I finally realized what it is.
I've always been struck by how alone Ennis is in his trailer at the end. He's got the shirts, so it is as if he has the memory of Jack, but he is still alone. But every time I think about this I always think, well, he isn't alone, he still has his daughters... but I still couldn't shake the sadness and the feeling that at the end of the movie Ennis is left with nothing but his memories. I think Alma Jr.'s sweater is the reason I always feel this way. Jr's sweater parallels Ennis and Jack's shirts in that, even though Alma is still alive, she's moved on with Kurt. Though Ennis will still see her, it will never really be the same. That sweater in a way symbolizes the memory of the relationship he had with her as she was growing up. This makes me so sad because I don't want Ennis to be alone in the end, I want his daughter or even his memory of Jack to be some sort of solace, and I know it is....
Does this make sense to anyone? That last scene in the trailer just gets me every time because it is as if those few scenes leading up to the trailer scene (from his last meeting with Jack until the end) are a kind of a gradual peeling away process... he loses another person in each scene until it is just him, in his trailer, with his memories. That is one of the reasons it is so heartbreaking when he buttons Jack's shirt. It is as if he is trying so hard to touch him one last time but can't.
