I've been thinking about Ennis and his buckets lately. The first time I noticed a bucket was on that fateful first night when Jack ordered him to stop hammering and get in the tent. Ever obedient, Ennis stumbled towards the tent, kicking over a bucket, or a pot, or whatever but it made a loud clanging sound like it was empty. Then I noticed several more encounters with buckets and I thought, what's with the buckets? Are they there for comic relief?
This is what I finally decided is the meaning of the buckets. First of all, the bucket that Ennis kicks over first is empty. The vessel of his life is about to be filled up. The next time we see him kicking, it's not a bucket, but a couple of bikers. No buckets around. But wait! He had just told the bikers to get control over their slopbucket mouths. Okay, so at this point there's a load of slop in the bucket that is Ennis' life. He has come down from the mountain, and he has no hopes of ever seeing Jack again and he's resigned himself to a life that is an endless road waiting to be slopped with asphalt (didn't see a bucket in that scene, but I'm sure there was one involved).
Cut to after the reunion. Jack and Ennis are separated again, and Ennis is hurting. He has an argument with Alma. Alma wants to go to work at the grocery store, the source of her sustenance and site of her future husband, and Ennis wants to keep her at home to serve dinner. She leaves and he follows but turns back and loudly, violently, kicks over a bucket of ashes. Now, Ennis' life is represented by a bucket of ashes. His passion for Alma is all burned out and his passion for Jack smolders inwardly (he wears a down vest that has a red lining).
The last time I saw the bucket, my heart sank. Jack and Ennis were camping beside a stream and for the last time Jack suggested that Ennis leave Riverton and come and live near him in Texas. Ennis responds angrily and while he is berating Jack, a bucket starts to float down the stream. Silently I cried out, Ennis, your life and all your chances for happiness are floating away! But Ennis just kept grousing about how Jack was a big thinker (dreamer). Jack F**king Twist.
So, that's my ode to the bucket, and if any of you have a BBM symbol that means a lot to you, I would love to hear about it.