Author Topic: Why does Ennis....  (Read 16442 times)

Offline jpwagoneer1964

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #10 on: December 22, 2006, 11:29:03 am »


Now, why did Ennis just stare into the fire when Jack said, "Sometimes I miss you so much, I can hardly stand it" ??

Ennis said nothing cause he knew he couldn't make August, so he wait until the end . He knew it make Jack upset and of course he was right. Remember the line line. "You had a whole to tell me this Ennis...." Of course it still didn't change that he couldn't make it. This is why I maintain that the "Sometime I miss..." was not the last night of the trip but 2nd or 3rd.

Mark
« Last Edit: December 22, 2006, 05:01:05 pm by jpwagoneer1964 »
Thank you Heath and Jake for showing us Ennis and Jack,  teaching us how much they loved one another.

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #11 on: December 22, 2006, 04:47:07 pm »

Now, why did Ennis just stare into the fire when Jack said, "Sometimes I miss you so much, I can hardly stand it" ??



This used to be one of the things I was maddest at Ennis for.  Then someone here helped me figure it out - all week he knew he needed to tell Jack that he wasn't going to be able to make it in August, and this was their last evening together.  Feeling lots of pressure to tell Jack, and dread at Jack's response, it incapacitated him further when Jack told him how much he misses him.  He hates hurting Jack...so he froze up and shut up.  :(

Why does Ennis say, "If I don't have to sing?"

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #12 on: December 22, 2006, 05:22:32 pm »
It's not because Heath doesn't know how to sing; we know he does because he did on "One of the Things I Hate About You." But Ennis doesn't want to sing OR dance because he is so repressed. He is actually a good singer and dancer, and he has a good sense of rhythm, you can tell by the way he beats on the coffee pot during "Water Walking Jesus." But if he shows his true feelings through self-expression he is afraid that people will find out about him and beat him up.

Why does Ennis not tell Jack his last name when he meets him?
« Last Edit: December 22, 2006, 06:27:26 pm by Front-Ranger »
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #13 on: December 23, 2006, 01:25:34 am »

Why does Alma plead her case for moving to town with ?Other kids for the girls to play with?? We see ?em playing at the apartment three times...by themselves.



Whew, good one.  I look forward to seeing what gets written about that.

Offline Katie77

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #14 on: December 23, 2006, 01:59:18 am »


Why does Alma plead her case for moving to town with “Other kids for the girls to play with”? We see ’em playing at the apartment three times...by themselves.

Cause SHE wanted to be in town, and like a lot of mothers she blackmails her hubby by saying it is for the benefit of the kids.....

She also says she could do it up nice....but it looked a bloody mess most of the time.....
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #15 on: December 23, 2006, 03:51:37 am »
This is why I maintain that the "Sometime I miss..." was not the last night of the trip but 2nd or 3rd.

This is true to the story, Mark! I don't have it in front of me, but what comes closest to that campfire scene in the story, and is followed by the sentence about "the brilliant spark of their infrequent couplings" and "never enough time, never enough" is followed by "a day or two later ..."

The story is usually specific about details like that. For instance, earlier on that same trip, the weather that Ennis was expecting arrives precisely three days later. Anyone have any ideas why the time frame of that last part is vague, rather than either "the next day" or "two days later"?

Why does Ennis say, "If I don't have to sing?"

Good one, Elle! Maybe he means it in the sense of how someone who confesses to a crime to the police "sings" -- that is, admits the truth. Ennis is willing to go to the church picnic as long as he doesn't have to be truthful about himself. Eventually, as he gets more paranoid -- they'll figure him out whether he sings or not -- he can't even stand to be around that fire and brimstone crowd.

Why does Ennis give Alma that look in the grocery store, and, more perplexing, why does Alma so suddenly capitulate?

Offline nakymaton

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #16 on: December 23, 2006, 12:26:22 pm »
Why does story-Ennis call Jack about the divorce? That’s the only time he phones Jack.

Ennis is lonely. Really, desperately lonely. He may not have loved Alma, but there was something comforting about domesticity and especially about the girls, even when the marriage was falling apart. He was lonely, and reached out to the one person he felt comfortable with, to the one person whose voice he wanted to hear the most.

And Jack heard that, and thought it was also an invitation and an opening. But Ennis couldn't bring himself to go that far. A phone call was drastic enough, and he didn't do it again, until it was too late.
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mvansand76

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #17 on: December 23, 2006, 12:41:57 pm »
Ennis is lonely. Really, desperately lonely. He may not have loved Alma, but there was something comforting about domesticity and especially about the girls, even when the marriage was falling apart. He was lonely, and reached out to the one person he felt comfortable with, to the one person whose voice he wanted to hear the most.

And Jack heard that, and thought it was also an invitation and an opening. But Ennis couldn't bring himself to go that far. A phone call was drastic enough, and he didn't do it again, until it was too late.

hey how did we get from Ennis walking in the middle of the road to Ennis' divorce?

 ;)

Offline Katie77

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #18 on: December 23, 2006, 12:53:28 pm »
Why does story-Ennis call Jack about the divorce? That’s the only time he phones Jack.

Maybe when he called Jack after the divorce, Ennis was in the frame of mind, that he wanted Jack, but Ennis had moments like that, when he threw caution to the wind, like in the reunion scene...but he soon gets back into his paranoia and stand offish ways.....also, when Jack arrived after the divorce, Ennis had the two girls, so the situation was a bit awkward....a different day, different circumstances, Ennis may have greeted Jack differently.....
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Offline Kd5000

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Re: Why does Ennis....
« Reply #19 on: December 23, 2006, 01:00:04 pm »
Ennis had been drinking as he was so nervous about Jack's arrival. His feelings he had repressed had come back to the surface. It might have played a factor in why he let his guard down. Also he wanted Jack to know where he stood.  A handshake wouldn't have been the same.   :)   I mean I drove all the way up from TX just to get a handshake and go out to dinner with you and your wife...

Obviously, Ennis was back to his normal paranoid self when Jack showed up saying I got your card.  Even without the girls there, Ennis would have said, nothing has changed.  I mean he even noticed the pick-up truck driving by while he was talking to Jack.  If that's not being excessively worrisome, I don't know what is.   Two guys talking having a conversation in the field isn't exactly going to attract any attention.