To mark the ninth anniversary of the movie release, I am summarizing some of the older threads that reveal the genius of this movie. Here is a summary of the glove motif which I discuss in Chapter 7, Costumes, of the book I am working on.
"In the scene of the last day on the mountain, as Ennis rides into camp, Jack is bent over dismantling the tent and his gloves are prominently seen in his back pocket. But Ennis, as we can easily see when he gets up and walks away, tucking in his shirt, has no gloves. In this scene, Jack seems to have the "upper hand" so to speak, physically striking the camp and even lassoing Ennis by the feet. But then Ennis lashes back at Jack, feeling out of control, and when they are next seen in different shirts, Ennis has the gloves, not Jack. At the bottom of the mountain, Jack says he will go to Lightning Flat to give his daddy "a hand through the winter." Ennis's gloves in his back pocket are visible as he starts the engine on Jack's truck.
Later, the character of Cassie manages to snare Ennis by literally grabbing his hand as he raises it to point at the restroom where he intends to go. She then drags Ennis to the dance floor by the hand. The song playing on the jukebox is Steve Earle’s “Devil’s Right Hand”. When she asks for a footrub, Cassie literally has Ennis hand and foot.
It was also interesting in the confrontation at the lake scene to see that, while Ennis has his gloves in his pocket again, Jack is holding his gloves in his right hand throughout the scene, even when he has his hand cradling Ennis's head at the end."
