Character you pitied most

[JT]

We all know most of these characters suffered one way or another and we feel sympathy for them.  To me, I can sympathized with all of them, but I pitied for most is Alma.  Perhaps it was the actress' wonderful acting abilities, but she seems to suffer the most next to our boys.

[dot-matrix]

I pity Bobby Twist.  Losing his Daddy like that and you know if Jack was murdered as Ennis believes then there will be gossip about his Daddy being gay that Bobby will not understand and I don't think Lureen showed enough character to help him with.  Sad

[Toast]

Excellent question:
Because of the ABCs Game I have dictionary.commed so many words this year, so why not one more:

Pity - sympathetic or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another,  often leading one to give relief or aid or to show mercy

I think I feel pity for every character in the movie, even Aguirre (flicking his magazine pages and saying he has no jobs for rose stemmers), even Jimbo (unable to share a beer with a lone man).  And definitely for all the people inside the Del Mar and Twist families.
I think what is pitiful is the family structure, so rigid and dominant.
It has become so easy to say what is right in a family that we have lost sight of what is wrong in a family.   A man, a woman and children make it RIGHT.   Love, respect and decency towards everyone seems to have gone out the window.

I pity the family members most, and the ones who need real affection more are the larger victims here.  Bobby will grow up to be like his grandfather.  Lureen is like her mother.  The transmission of shallow family values is the pitiful theme here, in my opinion.

It is so pitiful that you cannot give relief or aid or show mercy to these people.

[Front-Ranger]

I feel sorry for just about everyone too, even OMT and the bikers, but the person I most feel sorry for is Jack.

[Scott6373]

The story and the film are perfect examples of classic Greek tragedy.  That being said, one of the aims of a tragedy is to engender feelings of pity and/or sympathy on the part of the viewer/reader.

All of the charectars were flawed.  All of the charectars suffered loss.  There's a measure of pity for each one, but whichever one more closely resembles one's own personal experience is usually the one we feel the most for.  For me it was Jack.

[Penthesilea]

From the above, it was tough to decide between Alma and Jack's mom. We see more from Alma, we see her suffer.
But my vote went to Jack's mom. Both women of Ennis and Jack sure suffered, but were able to get their lifes into their own hands. Alma eventually divorced Ennis and married Monroe, Lureen was the more independent type anyway.

But Jack's mom was married to that mean old bastard and captured in this desolate place. She had a hard life and lost her only child.

As for Ennis and Jack, for me it was Ennis I pitied most. I know, Jack is the one who ends up dead. But I think Ennis was the more troubled character throughout the story and I hardly can bear it to watch him after Jack's death.

[Scott6373]

The reason I say Jack is not because he died.  Lets face it...he was a loose canon and probably was not as prudent in his behavior as he should have been. 

I had the most sympathy for him because he tried and tried and eventually gave up his life (and I am not referring to his death) trying to be what Ennis wanted...the only thing Ennis could handle.  That's why I firmly believe at that the last fishing trip, Jack knew he was leaving Ennis.  He knew he had to leave Ennis if he ever hoped to have the chance to experience the very thing he thought he had with Ennis all along. 

I know how he felt in that heart-wrenching moment: when you have to finally come to the realization that "love" is really not enough, especially when the love cannot be equally shared and expressed.  In fact, as I put more distance between myself and my initially emotional reaction to the film, I feel less and less sympathy or pity for Ennis, and it has even approached anger.

It was far more than being sad about future trip plans.  It was the end of a dream...a very long dream, that shaped and ultimately destroyed lives.

[ednbarby]

From the above, it was tough to decide between Alma and Jack's mom. We see more from Alma, we see her suffer.
But my vote went to Jack's mom. Both women of Ennis and Jack sure suffered, but were able to get their lifes into their own hands. Alma eventually divorced Ennis and married Monroe, Lureen was the more independent type anyway.

But Jack's mom was married to that mean old bastard and captured in this desolate place. She had a hard life and lost her only child.

As for Ennis and Jack, for me it was Ennis I pitied most. I know, Jack is the one who ends up dead. But I think Ennis was the more troubled character throughout the story and I hardly can bear it to watch him after Jack's death.

You hit the proverbial nail of how I feel about this on the head with this reply.  I voted for Jack's Mom because her life had been so hard to begin with and then she had to lose her beautiful, beloved son to top it all off.  But most of all my heart goes out to Ennis, especially in the final scene.  I find it almost unbearable, too.  I swear, I have never been as moved by a fictional character in any medium as I am by Ennis Del Mar as he backs away from that closet, and I highly doubt I ever will again.  Of course my heart breaks a little bit for Jack every time Ennis pushes him away.  But he ultimately is free of his pain.  Ennis must live on with his (and his guilt and regret).  The thought of that is almost unbearable, too.

[Katie77]

Alma........lets face it, the marriage was doomed from the start, once ennis had fallen for Jack......but she didnt know it, and most of it was out of her control.....

[horo35]

Definatley Alma.  The acting was so good it seemed real.  I really felt sorry for her.  Cheating on a spouse is probably one of the worst things a person can do.

[JT]

Damn!  Everyone has a good point of view here.  Good imputs.  I'll try to reflect on each character and why I pitied them.

Alma.  Her loss is obvious here.  She's this plain, not so rich girl who has to work hard just to get by.  Then to have her husband cheated on her...Yes, eventually she'll move on to a better life with Monroe.

Alma Jr./Jenny.  Children of a fractured marriage.  Still love their father greatly.

Laureen.  Similar to Alma except she's rich and she has her parents.  So she's very well off and I felt less pity for her.  Still at the end, we finally see her loss also.

Cassie.  She has a slight hint of Jack in her in the she put effort in loving Ennis.  I think her love for Ennis is genuine but ends up tasting the bitter rejection from Ennis.  She's the only one that does not understand at the end.

Jack's Mom.  I definately feel pity for her.  Loosing her only son and living with the old fart.  Perhaps the most tragic of the choices above.  But I also see a lot strength in her. 

John Twist.  At first, due to his attitude, I don't pitied him at all, but now I do a little.   Like his wife, he also looses his only son.  I think the reason he kept Jack's ashes has to do more with him still clinging on to his son and less about the Brokeback incident.

Jack and Ennis.  The only characters that made my cry.  The reason I didn't include our boys is because I think they will unanimously over take the poll.  I pitied both of them equally.  Jack, I pitied him through out the movie.  The poor pup has been kicked from everyone and eventually he died with nothing he wanted.  Ennis, I pitied him mostly near the end when his grief overpowered everything else, except maybe for love.  He's the one that will have to carry on with this pain.

[JT]

I pity Bobby Twist.  Losing his Daddy like that and you know if Jack was murdered as Ennis believes then there will be gossip about his Daddy being gay that Bobby will not understand and I don't think Lureen showed enough character to help him with.  Sad

Yes.  Bobby definately deserve our pity as well.  With a loving but dead father and a mother who puts business above everything else, yeah that's sad.

[Katie77]

Jack and Ennis.  The only characters that made my cry.  The reason I didn't include our boys is because I think they will unanimously over take the poll.  I pitied both of them equally.  Jack, I pitied him through out the movie.  The poor pup has been kicked from everyone and eventually he died with nothing he wanted.  Ennis, I pitied him mostly near the end when his grief overpowered everything else, except maybe for love.  He's the one that will have to carry on with this pain.

No, I dont pity Jack and Ennis.....not when I think of the fantastic times they had together....although tinged with paranoi, and not sure what to do about it all.....those moments were so precious......and they were lucky to be a part of them....how many people get to hold and kiss someone like they do in that reunion scene?.....how can we pity them, when they did have so much together.....

Sad?....yes.....because it was over before it should have been, but having 20yrs of a friendship and love like these two had, I would say, they were very lucky.

[Ellemeno]

I certainly agree with most of what I read her, but I'm going to pick Lureen.  At least today...

[Scott6373]

Aguirre...I pity him the most...he's so...Aguirre...he can't help it!

[JT]

No, I dont pity Jack and Ennis.....not when I think of the fantastic times they had together....although tinged with paranoi, and not sure what to do about it all.....those moments were so precious......and they were lucky to be a part of them....how many people get to hold and kiss someone like they do in that reunion scene?.....how can we pity them, when they did have so much together.....

Sad?....yes.....because it was over before it should have been, but having 20yrs of a friendship and love like these two had, I would say, they were very lucky.

I don't pity them, but I do pity each one of them.  Yes, they did have good precious time together, but just that.  As individuals though, they have struggled more so than anyone else imo.  Everyone will eventually get on with their lives except these two, and perhaps Bobby Twist (hard to imagine his future).  Their relationship did span 20 years, but adding the time they actually spent together was just about a year.  A truly wonderful year full of love and some struggle.

So, do I pity them together?...No way.  Do I pity them individually?...absolutely!

[Mikaela]

Alma.

A simple, earnest, nice, romantic girl who is taught some harsh lessons about life, has to deal with a lot on her own that she obviously seems completey unprepared for dealing with, has to let go of her  modest notions of happiness and get down to earth within the limited options afforded her in that time and place; - settling for what she obviously considers a less than fulfilling substitute though with financial security attached. The image of her sitting at the kitchen table staring into space after Ennis nearly manages to leave his fishing tackle behind says it all, such an eloquent, defeated and desolate look.

Part of the reason I pity her is not directly related to the character but to the fact that I've seen her reviled around the BBM fandom more than once, completely undeservedly and unfairly IMO.

[JT]

Alma.

A simple, earnest, nice, romantic girl who is taught some harsh lessons about life, has to deal with a lot on her own that she obviously seems completey unprepared for dealing with, has to let go of her  modest notions of happiness and get down to earth within the limited options afforded her in that time and place; - settling for what she obviously considers a less than fulfilling substitute though with financial security attached. The image of her sitting at the kitchen table staring into space after Ennis nearly manages to leave his fishing tackle behind says it all, such an eloquent, defeated and desolate look.

Part of the reason I pity her is not directly related to the character but to the fact that I've seen her reviled around the BBM fandom more than once, completely undeservedly and unfairly IMO.

I absolutely agree with you.  Same reasons I pick her, although you say it much better.

[delalluvia]

Gah!  All of them!

Alma a lot.  None of this was her fault.  She wasn't a harridan or bitch from hell, she was the girl next door caught up in circumstances she couldn't control and had less understanding.  She didn't get what she wanted (Ennis), but got what she needed (Monroe).  Things will look up for her.

Alma Jr./Jenny, least pity of all.  They're from broken homes, but all of their parents clearly love them, care for them, still see them constantly and take a sharp interest in them, so they're not bereft of much.

Lureen some pity.  She chose the wrong man to go up against her daddy and despite having all of the material goods life can offer, including having children and a male child at that, she didn't have the love and attention from the one man she truly expected it from.

Cassie., little pity.  She's just another victim in the dating game.  You play you pay.  Not all relationships work out, many many many women have loved men who didn't love them back and dropped them without any kind of explantion.  Welcome to the party, pal.

Jack's Mom, great pity.  Her life was hard and loveless and she sought love and comfort where she could in her desolate, isolated life - the church and in her son.  After losing him, she had nothing to comfort her anymore other than her spirituality and in the end, probably die alone, since John Twist will probably pre-decease her.

John Twist, hmmm...what we hear is that those who abuse are merely continuing the cycle of abuse, so that means John Twist somewhere in his childhood had a brutal fatherand/or mother...but someone can choose not to be like their parents - as Ennis showed - so John Twist didn't have to be how he was, but he did nothing to change things, subjecting his son and probably his wife to casual abuse.  No pity.

Jack and Ennis, Jack more than Ennis.  Ennis, because his repression made him so shy and so introverted he was hardly alive.  His father was probably an abusive horror and he was lucky to have lost his parents young, so that the poison of such upbringing didn't sink to the core of him, but he was still scarred by the Earl and Rich incident and always would be.  He was terrified and remained forever in a prison of his own making, unable to reach for happiness and live to the fullest when the opportunity came for him.

A chance few of us get, so my sympathy for him is tempered by this.

Jack, because he suffered from his father, his upbringing, and finally suffering from the one person he might have expected better from.  The man who loved him above all others.  There was nothing that came to him the 'right way'.  Yet, he remained upbeat and hopeful for decades, a dream sustaining him, until finally, a failed romantic, embittered at the end, he died.

Jack above all.

[Brown Eyes]

Of the list in the poll, I pity Jack's Mom the most.  I pity her for losing her son to suspicious circumstances (if it was murder, it's hard to imagine what it would be like to be the parent of a murder victim).  I also pity her for her lot in having to live with Mr. Twist... abusive (at least according to the story) and no fun to be around.  It's especially sad because they seem so isolated... she really seems stuck with him in that sparse house.  But, I certainly admire her.  I think she's one of the most remarkable characters in the movie.

She, like both Jack and Ennis, deserved better.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

All of them. After Jack died there was not one character that seemed to be intact anymore. If I really really had to pick just one, I would have to go with Alma. Ennis told Jack: "it ain't her fault" well, if there is blame I would say it is mostly Ennis's burden. She went from so happy, to so bitter.

[JT]

I agree with both of you above, and they're the two characters I pitied most after Jack and Ennis.