TOTW 06/08: Did Ennis die at the day described in the prologue?

[Jeff Wrangler]

*Ahem*
Jeff isn,t the only one who doesn,t agree with all this symbolic stuff lol. Re pissing in the sink, I mean the only thing that symbolises to me is that he woke up in the morning, desperate for a pee, couldn,t make it to the bathroom on time so he pissed in the sink. End of lol.   And don,t even get me started on buckets. 

Well, since this keeps coming up. ... 

Maybe Chrissi remembers this discussion elsewhere, too. Unfortunately I'm not very good at "searching" for posts.

I think in the story Ennis's living conditions are even more spartan than they are in the film. The screenplay refers to his "trailer house," and here in Pennsylvania we would say he was living in a "house trailer." However, I think in the story he is actually living in an even smaller trailer, the kind used for traveling and camping.

When I was a boy my grandparents bought a "travel trailer" and would occasionally take me along on weekend trips. Many of the trailers that we would see in the campgrounds where we stayed did not have bathroom facilities (my grandparents' trailer had a toilet in a tiny little closet of a room, but no shower or washbasin). These trailers would have a sink with running water, supplied through a hose hooked up to the trailer; a small, two-burner stove fueled by liquid propane; and a small refrigerator (the one in my grandparents' trailer could be powered by either electricity or propane). We know the trailer in the story has a stove and a sink. I don't think it has any kind of bathroom facilities, so the reason Ennis relieves himself in the sink is because otherwise he would have to put on his clothes and go outdoors to some outhouse.

[souxi]

Well, since this keeps coming up. ... 

Maybe Chrissi remembers this discussion elsewhere, too. Unfortunately I'm not very good at "searching" for posts.

I think in the story Ennis's living conditions are even more spartan than they are in the film. The screenplay refers to his "trailer house," and here in Pennsylvania we would say he was living in a "house trailer." However, I think in the story he is actually living in an even smaller trailer, the kind used for traveling and camping.

When I was a boy my grandparents bought a "travel trailer" and would occasionally take me along on weekend trips. Many of the trailers that we would see in the campgrounds where we stayed did not have bathroom facilities (my grandparents' trailer had a toilet in a tiny little closet of a room, but no shower or washbasin). These trailers would have a sink with running water, supplied through a hose hooked up to the trailer; a small, two-burner stove fueled by liquid propane; and a small refrigerator (the one in my grandparents' trailer could be powered by either electricity or propane). We know the trailer in the story has a stove and a sink. I don't think it has any kind of bathroom facilities, so the reason Ennis relieves himself in the sink is because otherwise he would have to put on his clothes and go outdoors to some outhouse.

Nahhhh I still reckon he was too desperate to make it to the bathroom on time. I mean don,t blokes wake up in the morning with their ermmm, "wotsit" standing to attention desperate for a pee?? 
And in the UK we call trailers caravans. So a trailer park would be a caravan park. And on that note Jeff, goodnight. I bet you,ll think about me now when you get up in the morning won,t you, eh? eh? lol. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Nahhhh I still reckon he was too desperate to make it to the bathroom on time.

You've clearly never had to use an outhouse in cold weather.     

[mouk]

I have, and had there been a sink, well, I would not have hesitated  (runs away hoping nobody will recognise her)

[belbbmfan]

I have, and had there been a sink, well, I would not have hesitated  (runs away hoping nobody will recognise her)

 

honesty is a nice trait!

[mouk]

ooops  Fabienne - Our next meeting is in the summer, right? and the weather will be warm

Anyway, to try and remain on topic, it does seem like very many years have passed by indeed, that Ennis has more or less given up on life and is so lonely that social niceties such as going to the bathroom or outhouse are of no relevance any longer to him, and that dying on that day would not be such a bad thing

It was mentioned that AP would not have given a hint of something that was not going to happen in the story - but we could argue that she also says that 'a story is not finished until it is read, and that the reader finishes it through his or her life experience, prejudices, world view and thoughts'

[BelAir]

Perhaps the prologue sounds as though Ennis is dying because Ennis has already died a bit, inside? There's something ghost-like about Ennis at the beginning and end of the story. (Not the part about pissing in the sink. I'm not sure if a sink-pissing ghost would be scary or funny or just unhygienic.)

[SFEnnisSF]

I never read the thread on DCF, but I did discuss this idea with a forum member in person once.  I was facinated.  I just want to share one metaphor idea that was introduced to me:  The trailer is his coffin, and the wind making the gravel hit the trailer is the dirt being shoveled on his "coffin".....

[brokeplex]

Gee, thanks. You're telling me I'm getting old prematurely. ...

(On a more serious, topic-related note, I'm glad someone else noticed this detail. I've written elsewhere that I feel it's one indication that the prologue takes place many years, perhaps a decade at least, after Jack's death, and that Ennis is still alone--no finding another male lover.)

Hi Jeff, that is my interpretation that the Ennis we meet in the prolog has been alone for a decade and a half after Jack's death. Ennis in the prologue would be in his mid 50's set in about 1997 when AP wrote the story. And yes, he would still be alone, his one chance at love gone forever.

 If you have a copy of the Story to Screenplay, read the essay by AP where she discusses her inspiration for writing the book and discusses that elderly cowboy watching the young men playing pool. that old fellow who may have been country gay, he may or may not have had a chance at love like Ennis did. I think that AP was creating an alternate world for that specific man, in order to tell what his story could have been if he had met a Jack and fallen in love. In the end though, he ends up alone, watching the young men play pool in the local honkey tonk.

[mouk]

I never read the thread on DCF, but I did discuss this idea with a forum member in person once.  I was facinated.  I just want to share one metaphor idea that was introduced to me:  The trailer is his coffin, and the wind making the gravel hit the trailer is the dirt being shoveled on his "coffin".....

Yes, exactly, sferics, and it was also compared to the Thresher submarine that sank: the trailer has a 'curved length' and the 'scratching of fine gravel and sand' is very reminiscent of the noise people in the Thresher would have heard when it hit the bottom of the sea and slid on it. There is even mention of a shark.

The keys were also mentioned, I think as the offer of a choice of a new life, and a parallel with the keys thrown at him by Aguirre was also mentioned, giving him the choice of a life with Jack. As I write this I just realise this could well be the keys to love, thrown by Aguirre and then the keys to death dropped in his hand by the shark -  death that may well reunite him with Jack, so these are perhaps again the keys to love...