Ennis and the Earth

[Brown Eyes]

I thought I'd go ahead an start the symmetrical thread about Ennis and the Earth to go along with the Jack and the Wind topic.  Again all this seems vital in relation to the movie's tag line "love is a force of nature."

I realize that some people will prefer to see Ennis as Fire.  I tend to like the earth idea. It reflects his brown/neutral colors and it reflects his character as the one who stays in one place, doesn't travel (except around a coffee pot) and is paralyzed to a certain extent by his own fears and emotional bind.  He's the "down to earth" one who worries about the practical aspects of things in contrast to Jack the dreamer with his "head in the clouds" (air/wind).  Maybe my favorite aspect of the earth/air or earth/wind idea is that it perfectly reflects the image of a mountain against the sky... the interaction between the air and earth is what's interesting... how one impacts or changes the other and how they harmonize with each other.

I think that fire can be seen as an element in their relationship (just like water) or fire can be seen as an element that comes from the earth (like a volcano... i.e. fireworks scene).

Here's one of my favorite descriptive passages from Proulx where wind (the storm/wind/breeze) and earth (mountain and stones) are activated and interact in a really interesting way.  The wind seems to make the mountain come alive... and to sing.

"The next week Joe Aguirre sent word to bring them down - another, bigger storm was moving in from the Pacific- and they packed in the game and moved off the mountain with the sheep, stones rolling at their heels, purple cloud crowding in from the west and the metal smell of coming snow pressing on them.  The mountain boiled with demonic energy, glazed with flickering broken-cloud light, the wind combed the grass and drew from the damaged krummholz and slit rock a bestial drone. As they descended the slope Ennis felt he was in a slow-motion, but headlong, irreversible fall."




Wow.

[Ellemeno]

Amanda, I am so appreciative of your posts.

I'm sleepy and slow-witted right now, so no coherent paragraphs from me tonight, but I did just have this thought while reading here - it never seems right for Ennis to be living up on the second floor in their apartment.  To be with Jack, he comes running down to ground level.

[starboardlight]

I realize that some people will prefer to see Ennis as Fire.  I tend to like the earth idea. It reflects his brown/neutral colors and it reflects his character as the one who stays in one place, doesn't travel (except around a coffee pot) and is paralyzed to a certain extent by his own fears and emotional bind.  He's the "down to earth" one who worries about the practical aspects of things in contrast to Jack the dreamer with his "head in the clouds" (air/wind).  Maybe my favorite aspect of the earth/air or earth/wind idea is that it perfectly reflects the image of a mountain against the sky... the interaction between the air and earth is what's interesting... how one impacts or changes the other and how they harmonize with each other.

I'm with you Amanda. Ennis as the earth is more fitting to me. After all, his mantra is that of endurance, a characteristic of a mountain.

I also think of the interaction between mountain and sky, and I think of all the post cards that Jack sent. He wasn't just sending pretty pictures of mountains, but rather metaphoric expression of their relationship.

[Penthesilea]

I tend to like the earth idea. It reflects his brown/neutral colors and it reflects his character as the one who stays in one place, doesn't travel (except around a coffee pot) and is paralyzed to a certain extent by his own fears and emotional bind.  He's the "down to earth" one who worries about the practical aspects of things in contrast to Jack the dreamer with his "head in the clouds" (air/wind).

I like your desciption. I think of Ennis as the earth, too. Ennis is grounded and solid. The earth seems to be very solid - but if you look closer, under the surface, there are weak points: tectonic plate movement (which erups in earthquakes) and very, very deep inside the earth, at it's core, there is magma (=fire), which sometimes comes to the surface and erupts as a volcano. Just like Ennis.

[Front-Ranger]

I don't think you have to choose between earth and fire. Ennis is of the earth, and fire is his element, whereas Jack is of the air, and water is his element. As far as animals associated with Ennis, they are all 4-footed animals that walk on the earth but Jack is associated with eagles and fish.

[starboardlight]

whereas Jack is of the air, and water is his element.

*emphasis mine.
can you expand on that a bit?

[Penthesilea]

very, very deep inside the earth, at it's core, there is magma (=fire), which sometimes comes to the surface and erupts as a volcano. Just like Ennis.

(Except that the magma doesn't usually come from the core. /geology geek  )

(Tries not to drool too much at the idea of Ennis and plate tectonics in the same sentence.)

(Tries really, really, really hard not to make any of my usual geology puns. Or to elaborate on exactly what kind of rock I see Ennis as. Meryl, if you're out there reading, please restrain me.)

Sorry. Amanda, this is really cool stuff. Same to everyone else on the thread. Don't let me get you off track.

Answer from someone who is complete geology- ignorant:

Magma doesn't come frome the core??? That's what I learned at school  But maybe my translation to English is wrong. Then I'll sue my online-dictionary  Otherwise I'll sue my former teachers, my schools and the headmaster's dog.    Or maybe I just come out as a total fool if I rememberd something completely wrong.

[nakymaton]

And I just looked up the Chinese elements, because I remembered from some class in my distant past that there were five elements in Chinese philosophy, and I couldn't remember what they were. (And because they might factor into Ang Lee's choices more than the Western versions would.)

Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_elements_%28Chinese%29

Wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. I'm not very good with making symbolism make sense, but Ennis = earth fits with that, as well. (Earth = yellow, center, smell.)

(But there is no air, and I'm not sure which of the Chinese elements makes the most sense with Jack. Wood, associated with blue and green and wind, and overcomes Earth? Water, associated with black, is overcome by Earth?)

[Ellemeno]

Ennis = earth fits with that, as well. (Earth = yellow, center, smell.)

I think of Ennis smelling his own, Jack's, and Alma Jr.'s clothes.

[j.U.d.E.]

I'm totally 'buying' the idea of Jack and the Wind! It makes so much sense in so many scenes. Also the name 'Twist'.. maybe paralleled to 'twister'..

I also love the idea of Ennis and the Earth, but I was just thinking about his last name 'Del Mar' - from the Sea.. Maybe its' more Ennis and the Water.. but I don't know how to elaborate further..

~ j U d E