The only one who ever saw the beauty of Jack Twist was Ennis, and the only one who ever saw how really beautiful Ennis is was Jack. It´s like the truley best versions of each men only exist when they are together. When they are apart, the are both less. Without each other they are nothing more than shadows of the persons they could be.
This is really well stated Bud! I think it's very accurate. When they're apart, they both just seem to struggle... over different things. But, still, their lives when they're apart just seem so difficult and/or disappointing.
I guess I don't really judge Jack all that harshly about having some affairs. Especially before he and Ennis had the reunion. Before the 1967 reunion, Jack probably truly thought of himself as single. There would have been no realistic reason for him to maintain even a pretense of fidelity to Ennis since he probably didn't think he'd ever see Ennis again.
The affairs he has after the divorce scene... I really do partially blame on Ennis... and by then Jack is beginning to get increasingly desparate and more hopeless bit by bit.
I don't think the affairs or encounters with prostitutes mean anything to him beyond scratching a physical itch. The affairs and prostitutes are sad to me because they're degrading to Jack, and yes, they're certainly not a good thing when thinking about the relationship between Ennis and Jack.
But, Ennis was having an affair too... with Cassie.
