Ok this is something I've been working oin concerning the high time supper. I'll throw it out there, then comment on everyone else's great points.
The high-time supper was a pivotal event in Jack and Ennis’s’ blossoming relationship. By observing the topics they chose to discuss and their subtle actions it is clear that by the end of the evening the two men are in love and deeply attracted to each other.
The setting for this scene is the first night after Ennis’s had taken over for Jack as the herder. ( this selfless gesture to assuage his bitchin’ friend was surely a sign that he cared for him) He had been away all day, not returning for breakfast, instead waiting until evening. The prelude to the meal is fraught with sexual tension and excitement as Ennis’s talks about the huge balls of the coyote he shot and Jack watches him strip and wash, noticing that he wore no drawers or socks, no doubt getting his teenage male mind going into overdrive. And tell me Ennis wasn’t at least subconsciously aware of the effect his nakedness might have on Jack.
And the setting for the meal around the campfire was so beautifully described by AP. Several things you notice. They are both sitting against the same log and able to swap a bottle. So clearly they were close to each other. Maybe their bodies just touched subtly, an arm, a leg, just enough for that electricity to flow The getting up to piss scene is described with a detail that makes you understand what was going on. “..firelight throwing a sparkle in the arched stream,.” demonstrated they were not turning their backs to the fire or moving into the darkness. They were simply standing and peeing facing the fire, probably just off the flames, turned just slightly, showing off for each other. Then they kept tossing sticks on the fire to keep the talk going. They did not want this time to end, for Ennis to have to leave.
Then we go down the list of topics.
“Horses and rodeo.” Ennis loves horses, Jack the rodeo.
“Roughstock events” something they probably both had participated in.
“Wrecks and injuries sustained.” Typical teenage male discussion. But I wonder if “injuries" could also mean psychic injuries? When did Jack tell Ennis’s that horrific story of his father’s bathroom abuse?
“The submarine Thresher.” This to me is a critical topic and just appeared out of the blue in this list. For those of you not old enough to remember, the loss of the Thresher was a front page news for weeks. It took a while for it to sink in that the sub was lost, there was no hope for the crew, and they would not be recovered. I was 12 at the time, just having reached puberty and absorbing the lessons that boys were supposed to be tough and not show emotion. I remember wondering for months how awful it must have been. Hoping they had died quickly but fearing they had suffered, that somehow they might still be alive, unable to be saved, suffering and desperate. Yet I could not share these fears with my peers. Yet AP chose to have Ennis and Jack discussing it. And “how it must have been in the last doomed minutes.” To me this shows there was a comfort level at expressing feelings of sadness and fear, being emotionally vulnerable, that went beyond just a “buddy” relationship.
"Dogs each had owned and known.” AP then goes right to a topic sure to involve expressions of love and affection that any animal lover can understand instantly. And some dogs you love so much, that remembering them invariably brings a tear to your eye.
“The draft” This one almost slips by. Talk about a serious topic effecting both young men. Ennis was probably going to avoid the draft in ‘63 by getting married and having a child. Jack was vulnerable. The war and opposition to it really hadn’t heated to the fever pitch it reached a year or so later, yet the dangers of Viet Nam were still apparent. Again we have a sharing of fears, concerns, hopes.
Family discussion.. Obviously this must have been very interesting and involved sharing of fears and joys. The only true details we get are Annie’s recitation of Jack’s statements about his dad not helping him in his bull riding career and although bot delivered in a quote from Jack you can detect the bitterness and sadness “ ..kept his secrets to himself, never gave Jack a word of advice, never came once to see Jack ride...”
Then we have that delightful, almost cute little interplay between them, where Ennis expresses skepticism about bull riding saying the only kind of riding that interested him lasted longer than 8 seconds and had some point to it, an d Jack’s quick retort that “money” was a good point. And Ennis had to agree. No argument. Respect. Happiness for their companionship where none had been expected. (By the way I am sure you agree the way this particular interchange between Jack and Ennis was handled in the movie was just terrific. I still smile whenever I think of it.)
Now let me comment on one very conspicuous absence of a topic. Their girlfriends. Most young men feel it necessary to talk of their "conquests" to prove their virility and masculinity. Particularly with your buddies, you want to show you are the top stud. Not a mention here by Jack or Ennis. This absence is not accidental in my opinion.
Ennis driven by his work responsibilities finally has to return. The wind is howling in his face, he’s drunk and yet he is so happy he could “paw the white out of the moon.” No need to elaborate on that sentiment.
I just want to comment on AP’s selection of the summer of ‘63. For many of those who lived during that time, that was the last summer of innocence before the Kennedy assassination sent this country and the world veering off on a path from which I fear we may never recover. I was 12. It was the summer between elementary school and junior high school. I spent the entire time having carefree fun with my brother and our friends in our rickety above ground pool, during the day, enjoying cookouts under the stars at night. Right before the summer ended in late August, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. It is hard to imagine how completely happy and optimistic I was. It was truly a halcyon summer that AP chose for Jack and Ennis.
