However, I think this is not about being homophobic or not. I think it goes beyond that. If Jack's dad were to see two men kissing on the street, two complete strangers, for example, he might feel annoyed and may not approve it.
Could be, Natali. We don't know much about him, and I wouldn't try to argue that, in his heart of hearts, OMT has no shred of homophobia. I guess in this case, as in the other thread, I was focusing less on analyzing OMT's psyche than figuring out what effect OMT's
apparent acceptance of Jack's sexuality might have on Ennis, and what that might mean for storytelling purposes. As far as those issues go, what I see as most important in that scene is that OMT shows no outward sign, at least, of being a homophobe. Just a jerk.
If nothing else, Jack's parents' behavior may help explain why Ennis and Jack had such different attitudes toward their own sexuality.
Since we BetterMostians like to find meaning in everything, it is hard to imagine Uncle Harold as being purely gratuitous.
Thanks, southendmd! That's a succinct way of saying what I'm hoping to do.
I like the idea that pneumonia is a disease of the wind, which is Jack's element, but, what then...? Does this act as a preview to Jack's death? Pneumonia is like drowning, Jack (in the story) talks about drowning in the deep blue of the sky; later Lureen tells us he drowned in his own blood.
Good observation! I like that alot.
Just playing around with the idea: Despite the fear of a probable death (in this case, Harold's), Jack opts to stay on the mountain (i.e., live with Ennis). And then Uncle Harold doesn't die after all. The fear of death in that case appears to have been overblown -- suggesting, maybe, that Ennis' fears of death if they lived together was overblown, too?
Oh, and I just thought of another one. There's nothin Jack can do to save Uncle Harold, either up here (living with Ennis) or down there (in society). In other words, death will come whether Jack lives with Ennis or not -- nothing Jack can do about it. And sure enough, it did come, and not because of his relationship with Ennis. Life is unpredictable.
That also might hint at why Jack mentions Harold's recovery
before he mentions that they're going down -- to separate the two concepts, to place Harold's recovery within the time frame of their living together (if he mentioned it on the way down the mountain, it might seem kind of like Harold survived
because they're going down, not
despite their living together).
Also, speaking of names (another good idea, southendmd!), Harold sounds like "herald." The definitions for herald include (reading my dictionary) as a noun, "an official crier or messenger," "harbinger," "announcer," and as a verb, "to give notice." If Harold's bout with pneumonia is supposed to be a harbinger of Jack's death, then those definitions certainly would apply!
One other possible connection: if the Harold episode is supposed to, in a way, represent the link between them living together and Jack's death, then it also might be significant that his death scare coincides with Aguirre's spying. In other words, even though Jack's and Ennis' relationship was discovered by the "eyes of society" (Aguirre's binoculars), there
was no death, at least in that case.
Another question: do you all think it's significant that this scene so strongly echoes the post-divorce scene? One brainstorming possibility -- people here have talked about the idea that this scene is where Jack starts, figuratively speaking, to die. And Uncle Harold had started to die in a literal sense.
I just thought of another echo between the scenes: in the first, Jack gets to choose between a relative and Ennis, and he chooses Ennis. In the second, Ennis chooses between relatives (his daughters) and Jack, and he chooses the relatives.
What are your thoughts, everybody?