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How Did Jack Die?
Jane:
Oh boy, how many times have I (along with the rest of the world) gone over this one? I,ve thought about it until my head hurts,and the more I think about the explanation given by Jacks wife, the more it doesn,t make sense. (someone enlighten me if I,m wrong please). He was supposidly killed by an exploding tyre yes? He was changing a FLAT tyre. Presumably he would have had a spare tyre in the trunk, and unless that was flat too, he,d have just been able to change it and go. So how did it explode? He wouldnt have had to pump it up, unless it was flat too, so it doesnt make much sense. The scene that Ennis saw in his mind, was I think, how he imagined it. I,m sure it had something to do with Lureens dad. He hated Jack from day one. He was never going to be good enough for his precious daughter. He probably found out somehow, not sure how, that he was gay as well. Remember too that he was an important man, he had a buisness and reputation to mantain. I certainly think that Jack was beaten up, probably dumped somewhere on the side of the road, out in the middle of no where and told to get lost and never come back. It was easier to let everyone THINK he was dead, including poor Ennis. I dont know, I might be totally wrong. Jack might really have been killed by the tyre or murdered by some gay bashers, but I dont suppose we,ll ever really know will we? One more thing. The author said that people are sick to death of disaster and unhappy endings. What does she give us? More disaster!! Everything doesnt always have to end in disaster. I know it,s rare, but sometimes people have happy endings. If anyone deserved that after everything they,d been through, it was Jack and Ennis. Us too. :'( :'( Lifes a bitch sometimes. :'(
David:
My two cents worth??
Jack did go back to Childress and told Lureen that he wanted a divorce and that he was going to ranch up with Randall. Lureen was naturally upset and went crying to Daddy. L.D. like any father wanted to get back at the man who hurt his daughter. Unfortunately I think he sent his rough mechanics out to intercept Jack on the way to Randalls. They of course go too far and leave not knowing that Jack was mortally wounded. When Jack is found, it is arranged to look like an accident. After all, Lureen and her father are well known in town and they don't want a scandal.
I feel this way because Lureens speech about the Tire incident seemed too rehearsed. As if she had to recite it to everyone who called the house to offer condolences. She certainly wouldn't tell people that her queer husband tried to leave her and her daddy's goons killed him.
Poor Jack. I think even if he did divorce Lureen and Randall agreed to Ranch up with him, that after a while, Jack would resume those fishing trips. He'd just tell Randall that he was going up to visit his parents.
Too bad he didn't live to see Ennis in November. It would have been interesting to see if either one of them had any new outlooks on the situation and what to do about it.
Poor Jack. Poor Ennis. :'(
Jane:
Hi, thanks for that. Yes her speech DID seem like a well rehearsed reply, I,ve always thought that. And I think your right about randall too. Even if Jack had ranched up with him, he, have stiil seen Ennis, and who knows? Maybe he,d have dumped the ugly rancher, (he was NO match for Ennis lookswise was he?) and persuaded Ennis to come up to his parents place with him. I guess we,ll never know now. Also a lot of what was in the main film, ie the cinema isnt on the dvd I think, like the scene with the mechanics. You see them in the trailer on line but not the dvd. Poor Ennis,s sad little face, mine too. :'( :'( :'( :'( If ever there was a match made in heaven it was those two. :'( :'(
tiawahcowboy:
Well, the only time the Story Lureen (no maiden name given) talks in Annie Proulx's original story is when Ennis calls the very same Childress, Texas phone number he had called and left a message that Alma had divorced him.
Since Jack high-tailed/red-lined it all the way up to Wyoming for nothing, he had misunderstood why Ennis left a message about the divorce in the first place. He thought that meant Ennis was free to be with Jack the rest of his life.
But, the way that Lureen talked to Ennis on the phone was politely but cold about the truck tire changing accident. Lureen's father had died before the Story Jack ever worked for the farm equipment company. And, even then, Lureen was his boss. The Story Jack did not work for Lureen until quite a while after the scene between Ennis and Alma in her kitchen at Thanksgiving. There is no Story Thanksgiving in Childress, Texas.
If Jack had really died in a truck tire changing accident, it could have been the fact that he had a flat on a farm equipment company truck while making a delivery or something. Who knows?
Other than people talking about the Story Jack having died, the Story Ennis NEVER saw proof of Jack's death. He just took their word for it.
David:
Well, the screenplay contains alot more than the original story. So for discussions sake, you can't discount all that was added for the movie. Anne Proulx was satisfied with the Screenplay/movie after all. She raved about it. So I think it is safe to call Ann Hathaways character "Lureen Newsome Twist".
And we don't see Jacks actual death. The vision is totally in Ennis's imagination. But the point I was making is that Jack certainly could have met his death the way I described. Jack was drinking alot and being careless. He may have gotten drunk and spilled the beans (no pun intended) to Lureen about wanting a divorce.
Again, ALL speculation. Even Anne Proulx isn't talking.
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