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Why did Ennis send the divorce-postcard?

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Penthesilea:
Hi,

I don't know whether this has been discussed before. I keep asking myself, why did Ennis send Jack a postcard telling him of the divorce?
In the story it was a phone call - the only phone call Ennis ever did in all those years (until the day he got the fatal last postcard and called Lureen).

Why did Ennis this? Jack misunderstood the news of the divorce and more so the fact that Ennis told him about it explicitely and outside their usual trips as a sign that Ennis is now able/willing to share his life with Jack.
I understand Jack completely here. This is a sign. If Ennis had told Jack the news at their next trip
it would have been more "normal", usual. And Jack would not have been hurt - not so much.
I understand that the divorce must have been an extreme and extremly sad event in Ennis's life. Maybe Ennis was shattered and needed someone to share it with. Who else could he have had except Jack to do so? But on the other side, this is not very Ennis-like. More Ennis-like is to stand it alone.

Subconcious? Ennis wanted to share his life with Jack.

Are you pondering about this, too? Any thoughts?

moremojo:
I think the postcard was a gesture of friendship, and an implicit request for sympathy, on Ennis's part. The divorce was obviously quite upsetting to Ennis, and apart from Alma and his daughters, Jack is the person to whom Ennis is closest. I think he just wanted to keep his best friend abreast of this major new development in his life, and didn't think through the possible implications of the gesture.

I've done and said some things in my life that were misinterpreted because I spoke or acted before I thought. Probably most people can cite similar experiences. I think this one incident is yet another illustration of the vulnerable humanity of both Ennis and Jack.

Scott

MaineWriter:
From a completely practical point of view, a divorce takes time. I imagine that during one of their trips, Ennis must have mentioned what was going on, and then he sends Jack the card to tell him it's final. The divorce has come through.

But nothing in this movie/story is completely practical, right?

Trying to put some kind of a time frame on it, I have made the assumption that they get together 3 times/yr--usually around May, then August, then late fall (Oct or Nov). In this case, I am assuming that the their fall get-together occurred before the divorce was final (in Nov)--otherwise, Ennis would have just told Jack, right?

Now he sends the postcard, but obviously some time has passed. He doesn't send it immediately in November, but more like April. My reasoning for this: 1) the weather when Jack arrives on his unannounced trip--no snow on the ground; and 2) when they part, Ennis says "See ya next month." So they already have their spring (May) trip planned.

So...it seems to me that Ennis has had a few months of being divorced, he's feeling lonely, and he decides to write Jack and let him know what's going on. I also agree that it is a way of reaching out and subconsciouly looking to share his life with Jack.

When I think of it this way, his total rebuff of Jack, when Jack arrives on the unannounced visit, doesn't make complete sense to me.

Leslie

serious crayons:
Well, here's my really boring opinion. I think it's just a plot device to get Jack to drive up.

I don't think he would have called, as in the story (if he did, there must be whole lot more to it that's not said, about Ennis feeling really upset and turning to his only friend for comfort; that's a nice possibility to consider, but there's just not enough there to go on).

But a card isn't that much more likely. By sending a card, Ennis isn't even getting the comfort! It's just an obligatory passing along of info. And Ennis doesn't seem the type who'd feel the need to do that. He'd just wait til the next time he saw Jack.

So I think it's just a way to set up the scene. For that matter, Jack dropping everything and driving 1,400 miles without a word of warning doesn't seem all that probable, either. Frankly, there are a lot of things about that scene that bother me, on top of it being really really depressing. Such as, Ennis' obligation to his daughters seems like a pretty good reason for not being able to go off with Jack. If he hasn't seen them for two months, it would be pretty rude to drop their plans on the spot. So for the scene to make sense, he needs a lamer excuse. Even a work obligation might do it. Also, couldn't Jack just cool his heels for a couple of days until Ennis IS free?

Jeff Wrangler:

--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 01, 2006, 12:04:45 pm ---Well, here's my really boring opinion. I think it's just a plot device to get Jack to drive up.

I don't think he would have called, as in the story (if he did, there must be whole lot more to it that's not said, about Ennis feeling really upset and turning to his only friend for comfort; that's a nice possibility to consider, but there's just not enough there to go on).

But a card isn't that much more likely. By sending a card, Ennis isn't even getting the comfort! It's just an obligatory passing along of info. And Ennis doesn't seem the type who'd feel the need to do that. He'd just wait til the next time he saw Jack.

So I think it's just a way to set up the scene. For that matter, Jack dropping everything and driving 1,400 miles without a word of warning doesn't seem all that probable, either. Frankly, there are a lot of things about that scene that bother me, on top of it being really really depressing. Such as, Ennis' obligation to his daughters seems like a pretty good reason for not being able to go off with Jack. If he hasn't seen them for two months, it would be pretty rude to drop their plans on the spot. So for the scene to make sense, he needs a lamer excuse. Even a work obligation might do it. Also, couldn't Jack just cool his heels for a couple of days until Ennis IS free?




--- End quote ---

Katherine, your opinions are never boring. Even when we disagree, your posts always well repay the time spent reading them. In any case, I'm pretty much on board with you on this one. A long time ago on a message board far, far, away (at IMDb), I sought opinions from parents as to whether Ennis did the right thing here, putting his daughters before his lover, and the consensus was that he did. The scene with Ennis sets up Jack's trip to Mexico--which I've understood that we are to take as Jack's first trip to Mexico.

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