Topic: Could Ennis have had a change of heart during that summer of '83?

[myprivatejack]

Yes, it was as if the collapse of his own world made him more perceptive and caring of the world of others, specifically Alma Jr.'s.  Some people turn bitter and hostile when life beats them down.  I don't think we can term Ennis to be bitter in the end.  I don't think it was bitterness at all.  Certainly an element of resignation.  Certainly an element of sadness.  And most certainly: a loss of will to seek happiness for oneself, coupled with a will/desire to give happiness to others.

Yes,and this does have a certain logical; if his world had broken down,now a new beginning imposed over everything else.And this new beginning obliged him to learn from his former mistakes and faults.Among them there were doubtless the new perception and caring for the others,as you say;not forget the needs and wishes of the beloved ones who surrounded him,as he had made somehow with his family and,of course,with Jack.This is the real learning that bad and tragic moments should carry.

[tpe]

Yes,and this does have a certain logical; if his world had broken down,now a new beginning imposed over everything else.And this new beginning obliged him to learn from his former mistakes and faults.Among them there were doubtless the new perception and caring for the others,as you say;not forget the needs and wishes of the beloved ones who surrounded him,as he had made somehow with his family and,of course,with Jack.This is the real learning that bad and tragic moments should carry.

I really think it heralded a new beginning -- as much as it heralded a definitive end to a part of Ennis's emotional life.  There is a part of him that strove to bring happiness to others, as much as there is that part of him that will be forever divorced from happiness.

[myprivatejack]

I really think it heralded a new beginning -- as much as it heralded a definitive end to a part of Ennis's emotional life.  There is a part of him that strove to bring happiness to others, as much as there is that part of him that will be forever divorced from happiness.

Yes,and that seems a contradiction,one more of the many that surrounded Ennis all his life.One one hand,he learned to bring happiness to his beloved ones and to appreciate it much more; on the other hand,however,he would never be able to feel the same happiness that he had lived,even-this is the most tragical of all-if he didn't realise it or if he denied it...

[tpe]

Yes,and that seems a contradiction,one more of the many that surrounded Ennis all his life.One one hand,he learned to bring happiness to his beloved ones and to appreciate it much more; on the other hand,however,he would never be able to feel the same happiness that he had lived,even-this is the most tragical of all-if he didn't realise it or if he denied it...

I think the irony was not lost on Ennis.  And I think it colors the last scene when he gazes at the shirt in his closet.  The shirts, after all, embodied both love and devotion/fidelity, as well as sadness and pain.  The former can no longer be divorced from the latter as far as Ennis was concerned.  Such dichotomies/contradictions embody what Ennis had become later in life.   He is an admixture of opposing forces.

[myprivatejack]

I think the irony was not lost on Ennis.  And I think it colors the last scene when he gazes at the shirt in his closet.  The shirts, after all, embodied both love and devotion/fidelity, as well as sadness and pain.  The former can no longer be divorced from the latter as far as Ennis was concerned.  Such dichotomies/contradictions embody what Ennis had become later in life.   He is an admixture of opposing forces.

Exactly ¡ And I would say that this irony is active also when he closes the closet's door,saving on it the symbol of his lost but always alive love.But at the same time,we see an open window by the closet's side,as a symbol of his greater overture to life and future,to the real world beyond BBM.But this should be maybe be discussed in "Double meanings..."thread...

[tpe]

Exactly ¡ And I would say that this irony is active also when he closes the closet's door,saving on it the symbol of his lost but always alive love.But at the same time,we see an open window by the closet's side,as a symbol of his greater overture to life and future,to the real world beyond BBM.But this should be maybe be discussed in "Double meanings..."thread...

In the same vein, although the tears in the end were taers of sadness and regret, one may also think of it as partly tears of love, if not happiness.  To think of Jack at that moment must have conjured very deep feelings in Ennis --both the happy and the sad.  It is this complexity that lends great pathos to the closing scene.

[vedrana]

dear CH

I substantially agree with most of what you propose here. It certainly seems like a possible view of the future, Ennis’s view of the future anyway. I think your insight into the “Ennis initiated” postcard, versus what were we’re shown earlier as only “Jack initiated” postcards is particularly important. Then there are those words uttered by the sobbing, defeated, and collapsed Ennis as he’s being comforted in the arms of Jack “I can’t stand this anymore Jack” – said by the man who years earlier uttered “if you can’t fix it Jack, you gotta’ stand it”. Now he can’t stand it, so you’re right, maybe he will now (finally) fix it.

For myself this potentiality is part of the great tragedy of the story and what makes it so compelling and endlessly fascinating.

I absolutely love how you put this! It is so meaningful and so overwhelming!