Jack : "That’s more words that you spoke in the last two weeks.’’
Ennis: "That’s more that I’ve spoken in a year.’’
Ennis is portrayed from the beginning as being withdrawn and extremely shy. It is hard for him to express himself and to talk about his painful past to anybody so he remains isolated from those around him. However, he quickly confines in Jack and tells him everything about his past, about how his parents died and he was raised by his siblings until they could no longer take care of him. After Ennis tells Jack about his past, Jack utters the line from above and Ennis confesses that it was the first time in a long time when he felt that he could talk freely.
Jack: "What are we gonna do now?’’
Ennis: "There is nothing we can do. I’m stuck with what I’ve got here. Making a living is all about I’ve got time for.”
After Jack and Ennis meet again after a period of 4 years, Jack lets Ennis understand that he will do everything he can to see him again. Jack suggests that they run away together but Ennis makes him understand that they can’t do that because they both have responsibilities and families they must take care of. Ennis also knows that society will never accept the two of them as a couple and that makes him even more reluctant to move in with Jack or run away with him.
''You and Alma are living a lie.”
Jack tries to convince Ennis to move in with him by telling him that he and his wife are living a lie. But Ennis refuses to listen to him and to leave his family behind. The quote from above also reveals the fact that Jack does not really consider himself as being a liar and he sees the relationship he has with his wife as being honest and straightforward.
