Why did Ennis send the divorce-postcard?

[nakymaton]

I've found sending and receiving letters and postcards to be incredibly comforting. I've never been much in the habit of using the phone. Before e-mail, I kept in touch with everyone -- best friends, parents, long-distance boyfriends -- by letter. So I can see why Ennis would turn to his normal way of communicating with Jack.

[Penthesilea]

I'm in a hurry now and can't answer like I want to.
You people give me a lot of input. Thanks for that. I'll think about it and answer later this evening or tomorrow.
Just a short note to nakymaton:
Your post makes perfect sense to me.

[serious crayons]

Nakymaton's theory that he might have just mentioned it in passing, in a card about their next fishin trip, makes sense. I don't see it as cruel, even unwittingly so, especially if that's how it happened. And he couldn't have predicted that Jack would drop everything and rush up there without notice (though I guess he couldn't call, since Ennis apparently didn't have a phone).

My heart always sinks when I watch this scene. It marks a turning point, the total loss of hope. Somehow when I watch the movie I always think at some irrational level that things might end differently for them this time, but after this scene I know they won't. The truck, the crow, the disappointment in Jack's face, the guilt in Ennis' -- it is all so, so bleak. When seeing it in the theater, I always wished I could walk our right before this scene. Course I never did.

[serious crayons]

Oh and Nakymaton, your theory that people actually MIGHT wonder about the Texas-plated truck in Ennis' driveway does make some sense. But couldn't Jack just be Ennis' fishing buddy? After all, he apparently isn't afraid to send or receive postcards to/from Jack at the small-town post office.

The only thing I like about that scene (OK, OK, I like it from an artistic standpoint, just not an emotional one) is how clearly pleased Ennis is at first to see Jack, and how long they embrace, even though the girls are right there. It's one of the little signs that, however much Ennis' issues might constrain his actions, they don't constrain his feelings for Jack.

[nakymaton]

I don't know why Ennis isn't paranoid about people reading the postcards. I mean, I'm willing to bet that the people handling the mail did read them, before tucking them into the bundle of catalogs and stuff. (And Alma certainly read them.) Probably a good thing that they were high school drop-outs, and not writing love poems or anything.

It may be that writing, somehow, seems a step more impersonal and therefore more safe? My perspective is this: I'm incredibly introverted in person, but for some odd reason have always been more willing to express myself in writing. Even on things like the internet, where millions of people could read stuff if they wanted to. Somehow writing seems more private than speaking to someone in person, even out in the middle of nowhere.

Also, you know, Ennis and Alma may have been the subject of gossip ever since Alma filed for divorce. And once the divorce went through, everybody with a single sister or cousin may have been trying to set Ennis up for a new marriage. (Or they may have been nosing into Ennis's personal life to be friendly, knowing that he was all alone.) And any attention like that might have made Ennis all the more paranoid that everyone would immediately know who and what Jack was.

[Penthesilea]

latjoreme:

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.

Jeff Wrangler:

whether Ennis did the right thing here, putting his daughters before his lover, and the consensus was that he did.

I agree. Ennis couldn't  have brought his daughters right back to their mother.

nakymaton:

He was used to sending postcards to Jack, so maybe that was the easiest thing to do when the loneliness became too much. And although postcards don't give the same immediate comfort that talking to someone on the phone would, Ennis might have hoped that Jack would send a postcard back... that much contact might have meant a lot to Ennis. (I bet those postcards were a huge, huge thrill every time they arrived.)

Makes sense. I too believe every single one of the postcards made Ennis's day when he got one.

Also, another idea... given the timing of Jack's visit compared to their next fishing trip, perhaps Ennis simply mentioned the divorce on the same postcard that told Jack about their meeting time and place.

This is a complete new idea (at least for me). And not a bad one. Together with Inicoll's comment that Ennis must have mentioned the upcoming divorce to Jack before it would be a logical explanation.  Hmmm, *thinking about it...*

As for why Jack didn't stick around, and why the girls worked just fine for me as an excuse... yes, the daughters are a perfectly good excuse, and Jack could have gotten a motel room and stuck around for a couple of days. But there's a whole other unspoken conversation going on there. It seems to me as though Ennis is talking about the girls as a way of covering up the things he isn't comfortable talking about, his unspoken fears. And Jack knows what Ennis is really saying; he's mostly figured it out before Ennis watches the truck drive by, but  that one truck represents everything that Ennis is afraid of. And Jack knows it.

At first I thought Ennis had rebuffed Jack only for this one weekend (which would be completely understanable and the right descicion due to his daughters). And only because of Jack's heartbroken reaction I understood what Ennis really meant.

In the movie, there's still hope that things could be different someday after "There ain't no reins on this one." After the post-divorce scene, however, Jack changes... the pornstache symbolizes it, covering up Jake's expressive smile and making Jack look older than he is. And, I don't know, it works as a turning point for me

Yes, it indeed is a very big turning point. And therefore I don't like it. Jack is never the same again after this scene.
There are some moments in the movie I want the it to be stopped, rewinded and see the beginning again 
I think in the after-divorce scene this feeling is strongest.


amanda:

I don't even think it's subconscious.  I think Ennis really would like to live with Jack.  He knows it would be a "sweet life" but he can't bring himself to imagine how it would work in practical terms.  Especially because he perceives the world to be so hostile, violent and threatening.

I totally agree. I don't think Ennis wanted just subconciously to live with Jack. He knew it. He wanted to live with Jack, but couldn't due to his fears. But maybe his subconciousness made him send the postcard, in the hope something would change. No. That's too much of a strech, isn't it? * I'm looking for a confused smily with crazyly rolling eyes*


Nakymaton:

And any attention like that might have made Ennis all the more paranoid that everyone would immediately know who and what Jack was.

Sadly you are right again. Ennis and his paranoia. Another endless topic to debate. And sadly he had some good reasons for his paranoia.

[bbm_stitchbuffyfan]

I love the post-divorce scene, so I want to figure out some way to defend it (aside from loving the acting, the way everything that's really going on is conveyed through things that aren't said).

The mention of the twelve hundred mile drive for nothing in the short story knocked me completely for a loop, too -- that was one of the things that stuck with me after reading the short story for the first time, that plus the shirts plus "the pillow sometimes wet, sometimes the sheets." What struck me in the short story, I think, was that I didn't know about it until years after it had happened, and although so little was said about it, so much was implied by that one phone call and that one drive.

So here's what it means to me. Might not be rational, because the story and the movie speaks to some part of me that is not rational. But, well, it is what it is.

I think the divorce must really have shook Ennis, and that despite being such a loner, that he felt lonely without the familiarity of Alma and the girls. That, somehow, even though the marriage had been falling apart for a long time, that there was something comforting and familiar about having a family. And when the divorce came through, Ennis was alone again, entirely alone like he hadn't been since the day he met Jack. And Jack was the one person that Ennis talked to, the one person who made the loneliness go away. So even though phone calls say too much, even though Ennis may very well not have had a phone in his new place, he called.

I can see why it became a postcard in the movie. It might be hard to believe that Jack wouldn't have said something about coming right up if they talked on the phone. It's easier to misunderstand a postcard than a phone call (though it's certainly possible to misunderstand a phone call, especially if Jack read Ennis's loneliness correctly but didn't realize how reluctant Ennis was to do anything about it). And postcards take a long time to arrive, longer than letters. (Months, though, is a bit hard to believe.)

As for why movie-Ennis would send a postcard rather than make a phone call... I don't know. Movie-Ennis is even more closed down and reserved than story-Ennis, and maybe a phone call would be simply too frightening for him. He was used to sending postcards to Jack, so maybe that was the easiest thing to do when the loneliness became too much. And although postcards don't give the same immediate comfort that talking to someone on the phone would, Ennis might have hoped that Jack would send a postcard back... that much contact might have meant a lot to Ennis. (I bet those postcards were a huge, huge thrill every time they arrived.)

Also, another idea... given the timing of Jack's visit compared to their next fishing trip, perhaps Ennis simply mentioned the divorce on the same postcard that told Jack about their meeting time and place. But instead of simply sending a postcard back saying "See you soon," Jack dropped everything and drove to Wyoming.

As for why Jack didn't stick around, and why the girls worked just fine for me as an excuse... yes, the daughters are a perfectly good excuse, and Jack could have gotten a motel room and stuck around for a couple of days. But there's a whole other unspoken conversation going on there. It seems to me as though Ennis is talking about the girls as a way of covering up the things he isn't comfortable talking about, his unspoken fears. And Jack knows what Ennis is really saying; he's mostly figured it out before Ennis watches the truck drive by, but  that one truck represents everything that Ennis is afraid of. And Jack knows it. (And I disagree with the people who have said that nobody would have noticed or cared about Jack visiting. A truck with Texas plates sitting in the driveway of somebody who, as far as everyone knows, has a total of five relatives (counting Alma, the girls, and the brother and sister) and no friends? Somebody who, as far as they know, has never left the state? I bet somebody would have asked Ennis about the Texas plates within three days. No, they shouldn't have cared, but it's a small town and people get bored and nosy.)

The post-divorce scene works as a perfect gap-filler for me; it's better than anything I had imagined about it. And I think it also works, a bit, as a piece of the Motel Siesta scene in the book, which set the course for the entire rest of the relationship in a way that it doesn't in the movie. (In the movie, there's still hope that things could be different someday after "There ain't no reins on this one." After the post-divorce scene, however, Jack changes... the pornstache symbolizes it, covering up Jake's expressive smile and making Jack look older than he is. And, I don't know, it works as a turning point for me.)

Hmmm. I don't think this makes much sense. (And it's a bit disturbing that I like such an angsty scene so much, but I do.)

(I call it a twelve hundred mile drive because that's how it's described in the story. Don't know where Annie Proulx got the extra 283 miles. Can't imagine Jack taking any detours on that particular drive. Maybe she liked the sound of the words.)

It may be that writing, somehow, seems a step more impersonal and therefore more safe? My perspective is this: I'm incredibly introverted in person, but for some odd reason have always been more willing to express myself in writing. Even on things like the internet, where millions of people could read stuff if they wanted to. Somehow writing seems more private than speaking to someone in person, even out in the middle of nowhere.

Also, you know, Ennis and Alma may have been the subject of gossip ever since Alma filed for divorce. And once the divorce went through, everybody with a single sister or cousin may have been trying to set Ennis up for a new marriage. (Or they may have been nosing into Ennis's personal life to be friendly, knowing that he was all alone.) And any attention like that might have made Ennis all the more paranoid that everyone would immediately know who and what Jack was.

Ok, I'm not trying to sound like a kiss-ass but I agree with everything above that you said. I related to what you said about writing sometimes being an easier form of expression and when you think about the size of town and the time period, you'd expect Ennis and Alma to be gossiped about because of the divorce.

I don't think Ennis worried too much about the postcards because they kept those discrete. We, as audience members, only understand what they really mean by the cards because we witnessed the sparks flying between them on Brokeback back in '63.

I love the post-divorce scene. I think it's a very well-acted and subtly emotional scene. Jake Gyllenhaal is heartbreaking in that scene, especially in contrast to the joy he conveyed while driving toward Ennis, and Heath Ledger is brilliant in that he made Ennis' guilt, affection, regret, and concern tangibly clear.

I had always interpreted it that Ennis called Jack in the movie but that was probably because I remembered it being a phone call in the book. What kind of puzzles me is how they rarely communicate with each other. Did Ennis have a phone? I remember him using a pay-phone to call Lureen. You think maybe they didn't write to each other very often because they couldn't get the chance to, or were afraid the letters would be read, or... some...other...reason?

[bbm_stitchbuffyfan]

At first I thought Ennis had rebuffed Jack only for this one weekend (which would be completely understanable and the right descicion due to his daughters). And only because of Jack's heartbroken reaction I understood what Ennis really meant.

I agree that the daughters are a strong reason to shoot Jack's plane out of the sky. You see, I highlighted this quote because at first, I too saw this scene as Ennis rejecting Jack for a weekend. I didn't think to read into it at the time...  Luckily, though, it later clicked. That scene, in it's true context, is quite sad.

I don't think Ennis wanted just subconciously to live with Jack. He knew it. He wanted to live with Jack, but couldn't due to his fears.

I second--or, you know, third--this notion. I think Ennis had an unbearable desire to live with Jack but fear overcame him and he thought what he was doing was best for both of them, as much as it killed him.

Do you think he realized the err of his ways in the end? I think he did; it was devastating because there was nothing he could do about the matter now that he saw things from Jack's perspective.

[TJ]

The movie-Ennis sent a postcard which might have merely mentioned that he was divorced from Alma.

But, the book-Ennis had called Jack's Childress, Texas phone number to tell about the divorce.

In both cases, Jack Twist completely misunderstood the reason for the contact. Ennis apparently was not comfortable when it came to written communication or talking on the phone.

With the book's phone call situation, I get the impression that Jack must have had an answering machine or an had an answering service which got the message that Jack actually heard. An alternate option would have been that Lureen was the one who took the message; but, then again, if she had talked to Ennis before, she might have remembered whom he was when he talked to her after Ennis got the November 7 meet-up postcard returned stamped "DECEASED."

The book-Ennis got divorced from Alma (and even had thanksgiving dinner at Alma's and Bill's, the Riverton Grocer) BEFORE Jack worked for the farm and equipment company which Lureen inherited from her father. In that version, I really believe that, financially speaking, Jack had very little to leave behind. I don't doubt that he loved his son; but, he never really had any good things to say about Lureen when talking to Ennis.

[Flashframe777]

Here's what I think.  Proulx was deliberate when she mentions about the time Jack drove all that way to visit Ennis when he heard about the divorce.  Don't think it was a plot device though.  Ennis must have had a weak moment, and leaned on Jack emotionally.  I think Ennis was really reaching out to Jack subconsciously, but pulled himself together by the time Jack surprised him by showing up in his driveway.

About 10 years ago, a straight man (whom everyone mistakes as gay because he dresses really smart and is extremely goodlooking) that I had a crush on, and had jokingly (hehehe) flirted with off and on, unbeknownst to me was going through relationship problems.  One day he just showed up at my work toward the end of the day to talk.  I thought it was odd, but didn't think much more.  Years later he told me that he showed up at my job with the intention of trying sex with me.  But he pulled himself together emotionally, and didn't.  (Awwwh, I know).

Maybe, Ennis, like my friend, had a moment where he was going to give it a go and shack up with Jack, but changed his mind as he pulled himself back together emotionally.