also, i don't have the quote, or remember who said it in this thread, but someone mentioned the sex with jack in ts1 being ennis's first time. i never thought about that. do you think it's true? i guess him and alma would've waited until marriage, being religious, or maybe because of the times....i dont' know. weren't the 60's a promiscuous time? sorry if these questions have obvious answers, but i don't know too much about that era.
Heya,
I think the conversation where Ennis is talking about Jack being a "sinner" whereas he himself hadn't had the "opportunity" yet is up for interpretation.
But, from my perspective/ point of view, I think Ennis is trying really hard, in his shy way, to tell Jack that he's engaged to Alma but that they haven't had sex yet. As Jeff and others have mentioned, Ennis is just so shy and especially uncomfortable talking about emotional/personal/vulnerable topics... I think this is a huge moment for Ennis. Demonstrating that he trusts Jack so much that he'll even tell him this. I think maybe a lot of 19 year old guys wouldn't want to admit to being virgins. To me, this is what this scene implies or lets the audience know about Ennis. We know he's never had sex with a man before in Proulx's story because she mentions it pretty explicitly in describing the first sexual encounter between Jack and Ennis. The question about whether or not Jack was a virgin with Ennis, is of course, a big question and is debated a lot. And the "opportunity" conversation doesn't really give us much info about Jack in that regard. Because it's Ennis who says "you may be a sinner..." (with the conditional "may" in that statement)... and Jack doesn't really reply to this.
And, LOL, yes, I think the late '60s were a much different time in terms of sexual freedom/experimentation, etc. But, in 1963 in Wyoming I bet things were pretty conservative relatively speaking. I mean, the Beatles and Stones hadn't even come to America yet. By the time of the reunion in '67 the more "free wheeling" '60s were coming about, but still it's hard to know how the '60s counterculture would effect Riverton, WY and Childress, TX.