Ennis to Lureen- "We were good friends." - can be translated into "He was the love of my life and my best friend."
Thanks, Mikaela and Amanda!
Amanda, the very phrase "love of my life" and even "best friend" are enough to make me tear up these days.
OK, back briefly to the camping scene by the river. Does anybody think maybe Jack could have handled it a bit better? Amanda has mentioned the idea that during the "prayer of thanks" scene Jack jumped in a little too quickly with the cohabitation idea -- in a completely understandable, well-meaning way, but sort of ruining the sweet moment. I wonder if a similar thing is going on here.
Ennis really seems to be confiding in Jack about subjects he's not normally comfortable discussing, taking a risk to sincerely ask for Jack's thoughts. Are things "normal" with his wife? Does he worry that people "know"? Does Jack worry about that stuff? How does he handle it? This could be an opportunity for Jack to confide his own feelings, offer Ennis some reassurance that his fears are normal under the circumstances, take the moment to a greater level of intimacy -- provide the verbal equivalent of the wet handkerchief after the bear incident, or the cheek caress after Ennis' revelation about Earl.
Instead, for understandable and well-meaning reasons -- Jack always has to be wary of that low startle point -- he doesn't. He shrugs off the questions and suggests that Ennis move out of town. That actually
does seem like a sensible solution. But not entirely reassuring for Ennis, as it disregards his worries. And when it comes to cohabitation, Ennis has an even lower startle point, and Jack hits it (and gets thrown).
So ends Ennis' moment of openness, and an opportunity is wasted.