Topic: Jack: "...If you don't never know the rest"

[LuvJackNasty]

That is a better wasy of putting it, kathy.  I guess this is why there was something in Jack's response that struck me as vaguely unpleasant.  Ennis must have took the supposition as an insult -- or close to it; hence, his response.  But what was perhaps most painful to Ennis was the fact that Jack spoke the truth, and that perhaps Jack had finally given up hope, when he said "I did once."

That's what I think. It almost reminds me of Ennis saying "once burned" to Alma.

[tpe]

It could have been taken for Ennis as an insult or,at least,as a renounce of the part of Jack of this "sweet life together".This,joined with the suspicions he had about Jack's faithfulness,made him answer in this way.
But I tend to suppose that,mainly,he was suspicious,yes,but he was waiting for the right moment to tell it.He knew perfectly that he couldn't "attack" Jack with this suspicion after having told him that they didn't see each other in months.But his friend "served it in argent plate",as we say here,when he said this "I did once"; Ennis then had a good excuse to avoid the subject by speaking,at his turn,about what happenned with Mexico.JMHO.

yes, Ennis certainly must have taken this for an opportunity to unload his resentment regarding his suspicions about Jack's faithfulness. 

As to the sweet life, I wonder whether Ennis would have cared that much.  I think what he resented most was not that Jack was renouncing it -- rather, he resented the fact that he was somehow being blamed for the renouncement.

[tpe]

That's what I think. It almost reminds me of Ennis saying "once burned" to Alma.

So true.  Perhaps this is even a deliberate parallel.  Thanks LJN: one does indeed recall the other...  But the tables have turned in this case...