How old do you think Cassie is?

[Penthesilea]

I think Cassie was at least thirty, I'd rather think she's in (or going on) her mid-thirties, just like Ennis. I don't think there was much of an age-gap.
One reason for this believe is the scene where she asks Junior about marriage. I think she really is looking for someone to marry her. The word desperately is too strong, but I think that's the right direction.

I would say 23 to 28. I also think she has been married once before and her x-husband is in prison.

I absolutely agree with Tru about a possible ex BF in prison, respectively all the implications that go with it. I think she already has at least one (rather two) serious relationships behind her, which have gone drastically downwards. Do you know the type of women who always manages to pick the foul apple? I think Cassie has very low expectations in men. She's not stupid, she must have noticed Ennis's indifference towards her, but she's willing to hang on. I think as long as her guy doesn't beat her up, doesn't steal her money and doesn't screw another woman every other week, she's willing to put up with a lot.


I completely agree about Ennis's disinterest being expressed by those two little words: - or sumpthn. And I also think Buffy is right here: it's a signal to Jack: what do I care about this woman? I do care about you.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

Cassie sort of struck me as someone whose self worth was dependant on having a man and being in a relationship. We don't see a lot of their courtship, perhaps because there wasn't much. I think she spotted someone available and moved in on them, trying to gage thru Alma Jr.'s responce weather or not she should pressure him to "settle down".

When we see her again she is on the arm of another man, Her identity is tied to being with someone.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I agree that those two little words of Ennis', or somethin',  are quite momentous. I've always thought so. They tell us that Ennis has little interest in Cassie. He's not been listening to what she has to say and has no interest in her dreams and aspirations. In the short story, Annie Proulx clearly states that Ennis masturbates whilst fantasizing about Jack, but does not  have sex with other men (whereas Jack does  have sex with other men). I believe that Ennis somehow feels he is being true to Jack, so long as he's not having sex with another man, whereas it's okay for him to masturbate and have sex with women. Ergo, I believe Cassie is solely a masturbatory diversion for Ennis; his principal love interest remaining with Jack.

In principle I agree with what I think this means, but I think the phrasing is a bit too romanticized. Rather than "being true to Jack," I think it's more likely part of Ennis's self-delusion/avoidance mechanism that as long as he just does it with Jack, he "ain't queer."

As to Cassie's age, I feel she is in her mid/late 20s; say, 26-28. Certainly, approaching 30. I imagine she left school early and has worked in dead-end jobs since. As she approaches her 30s, which perhaps creates a wake-up call for her, she resolves to improve her lot and undertake a course of study (In nursing?). Her approaching 30s create the catalyst for her to take control of her life, which has just been immaturely flip-flopping along until then. She's no longer a child or teen and will soon no longer be in her twenties. Time to get her act together. She's probably had several dead-end affairs with assorted dead-beats and losers up until then and is beginning to realize that if there is ever going to be any improvement in her lifestyle, she's the one who's going to have to take control and do the improving. The men she is attracted to are clearly unwilling (or unable) to bring about the positive changes in her life that she dreams of.

I think this assessment of Cassie is hunnerd percent dead on. 

Seems possible she might have had a short-lived marriage right after high school, except that it seems to me if she had, it would have been likely that marriage resulted in a child, and we have no indication that Cassie's a mother.

[chowhound]

I thought it might be worth noting that when Ennis tells Jack about Cassie, his relationship to her could effectively have been over by then. Jack and Ennis's final meeting probably takes place in the May of 1983 and his final meeting with Cassie is probably a month or two later, say in the June or July of the same year. At that meeting, two things emerge. The first is that for some while she has been trying to contact Ennis for she says to him:

I left word for you with Steve at the ranch. And you must have got those notes I left at your place.

How long this has been going on, we don't know. But it sounds to me as though Cassie's attempt to contact Ennis might well have taken place over a few months. The second thing to emerge is that at some point in this process, Cassie has decided that her affair with Ennis is over and she has had time to meet and establish a relationship with a new boyfriend, Carl. How long this has been going on, we don't know, but when we see Carl, it becomes clear this isn't their first date as Cassie says of him:

Carl? Yeah, Carl's nice. He even talks.

Put these two things together and overall we may be looking at a period of, say , four to six months and so, when Ennis tells Jack about Cassie, Ennis may be describing something which effectively belongs to his past rather than the present. However, whether or not Ennis is prepared to fully acknowledge this when talking to Jack is far from clear.

But obviously he has to acknowledge it when he encounters Cassie with her new boyfriend at some point during the summer of 1983. This means, that, without Jack, his isolation is even more complete. This, along with Jack's threat of "quitting" him, may have caused Ennis to start rethinking his life during the late summer and early fall of that year. It is Ennis, of course, not Jack, who initiates the November meeting at Pine Creek and maybe, at that meeting, Ennis was thinking of offering Jack more of that "sweet life" than he ever had been prepared to offer in the past. Anyway, I like to think so.

[Front-Ranger]

Yes, I think you're definitely right. Cassie had definitely moved on by then.

[Monika]

It is Ennis, of course, not Jack, who initiates the November meeting at Pine Creek and maybe, at that meeting, Ennis was thinking of offering Jack more of that "sweet life" than he ever had been prepared to offer in the past. Anyway, I like to think so.

This is a very interesting point,and so full of what-could-have-beens.
We don´t know for sure that this was the first time that Ennis initiated a meeting, but of some reason that´s the way I´ve always thought about it. Might be that Ennis wasn´t sure that Jack wanted to see him again after their last argument and that´s what pushed him to do it. But he was too late.

[Brown Eyes]

This is a very interesting point,and so full of what-could-have-beens.
We don´t know for sure that this was the first time that Ennis initiated a meeting, but of some reason that´s the way I´ve always thought about it. Might be that Ennis wasn´t sure that Jack wanted to see him again after their last argument and that´s what pushed him to do it. But he was too late.

Yeah, this is such a great way of thinking about/ explaining the dynamics there.  Definitely a lot of bittersweet could-have-beens.  And, it does seem so important that Ennis initiated the last card... I guess I'd never considered whether or not it was the first time he sent out the invitation.  I can believe that it could have been the first time for him.  At least it's the only invitation-card written by Ennis that we witness in the film.  The only other Ennis card is the "you bet." card (am I correct in recalling that)?

[chowhound]

Yeah, this is such a great way of thinking about/ explaining the dynamics there.  Definitely a lot of bittersweet could-have-beens.  And, it does seem so important that Ennis initiated the last card... I guess I'd never considered whether or not it was the first time he sent out the invitation.  I can believe that it could have been the first time for him.  At least it's the only invitation-card written by Ennis that we witness in the film.  The only other Ennis card is the "you bet." card (am I correct in recalling that)?

You're right the "you bet" card was the first card that Ennis sent to Jack. After that, Ennis sent Jack the "divorce" card but although we know the information got to Jack through a card from Ennis, not via a phone call, as in the short story, we never get to read the contents of that card. (I wish we could!). However, it looks as though the "Pine Creek" card was the first card Ennis sent Jack to set up one of their meetings, though this, of course, can't be proved. From what is said, however, you get the impression that it was always Jack who proposed a date for a meeting and Ennis who rearranged his life to fit in with Jack's proposals.

[ifyoucantfixit]

    When she first makes an appearance to Ennis.  She heads him off on his way to the
mens room.  Not exactly him making a rush for her.  She manages to steer him  to the
dance floor instead.  He doesn't even bother to stop and crush his cigarette.   The interest
that Ennis shows is practically sleepy. 
   As to her age, she seems about 27 or 28 to me.   I agree with those that think that his
interest in her is less than his hand...So to speak.