Post-Divorce Scene

[Cameron]

I think the tragedy is that they don't understand each other.  It's not just Jack not understanding Ennis's internal homophobia.  "I got the girls...." is just another excuse, the passing white truck=paranoia, Jack says "I get it".  Ennis doesn't understand what the divorce postcard would have meant to Jack, who had clearly stated his intentions of wanting a life together.

They don't understand each other, use sex as a metaphor, blame each other for how their lives turned out, and that's their tragedy.  Ennis embodies regret.

Wow Paul,

You said it all so incredibly well.

I totally completely agree, I think that the problem is that they never understood each other at all. 

In fact I think the whole film is also about all the characters Alma and Lureen, Alma Jr and of course Jack and Ennis just all going around in circles,  never being  able to understand each other and  also non were  really ever able to say what they really feel.

In fact I just relized that the only one who was able to speak the truth was Cassie.  Even Alma waited years and years to say what was on her mind.

[Lynne]

Howdy, folks!  I split this topic because we are way off the track of talking about poor Uncle Harold.  This way newbies can better see what the subject is!

 

[Jeff Wrangler]

(Yeah, I'm back.  )

Also, don't be so hard on Jack!  If he were really just looking for sex, why drive 1200 miles for it when you're right next to Mexico?

Of course he's not just looking for sex with just anybody. What he wants is Ennis.

I think the tragedy is that they don't understand each other.  It's not just Jack not understanding Ennis's internal homophobia.  "I got the girls...." is just another excuse, the passing white truck=paranoia, Jack says "I get it".  Ennis doesn't understand what the divorce postcard would have meant to Jack, who had clearly stated his intentions of wanting a life together.

Yes, I agree, that is their tragedy.

IMO, Jack goes to Mexico not just out of anger or spite, but mostly out of sadness and loneliness.  His face in the alley does not say "horny", rather it says "despair".

Well, yes, but to that despair I'd add a strong dose of desperation, which isn't the same thing as despair, but maybe in Jack's case is the offspring of despair. In all my years "out," in way too many hours spent in venues where guys are just looking to get laid, I've seen the look on Jack's face, or one gosh-darn close to it, on guys who for whatever reason, just want--need--to get laid, and they're so far gone in the want/need for it that they don't care by whom. And I've always felt that was really very sad. 

[BBM-Cat]

(Yeah, I'm back.  )

Of course he's not just looking for sex with just anybody. What he wants is Ennis.

Absolutely well said - while it may have seemed like he was only after sex - after awhile, for reasons of self-preservation, Jack had to protect his heart. Although he never fully learned to deal with the rejections from Ennis about not starting the 'sweet life' together, he learned to make the best of their situation. While he always wanted and hoped for more with Ennis, he did in fact 'settle' - until maybe at the very end when he began asserting his feelings and frustrations with their situation.