Topic: alma hanging up laundry

[kcristob]

I'm wondering if anyone can clarify a scene for me:

Alma is hanging up laundry and smiles when Ennis drives up (a whole discussion unto itself - she's untainted by knowledge of Jack)

but, the following scene shows Alma doing laundry in the house with crying kids.  The moods of the two scenes are very different.

My question is:  Is this supposed to be the same scene?  Originally I thought it was two different occasions - but need other brains out there to help me figure it out.

Ideas?

[tpe]

I think Alma was just doing laundry.  She would finish washing up a couple of items and then hang them out to dry before getting back to the unfinished ones.  This would be the case if she had a lot of laundry to do and limited space in the laundry basin.

I think the scene emphasized their poverty -- living on an isolated ranch, with only Ennis earning money for the family.  When they move into town, Alma could start working on her own to supplement  Ennis' meagre income.  Why this scene depresses us is because of the relative isolation of the homestead, the honest poverty that characterizes their home, and the cares of having to manage 2 kids on a meagre salary.  But I think Ennis and Alma were reasonably content with their married life -- except that Alma was tired of being isolated out in the ranch.

[kcristob]

So, you think this is all one scene - at the same time?

[tpe]

So, you think this is all one scene - at the same time?

Yes.  She goes back and forth from inside the house to outside, depending on whether she is ready to hang up newly washed closthes to dry.    You see her first outside hanging out some clothes to dry.  Next you see her back insde, continuing to wash clothes until another batch is ready for drying.

[camom]

What's interesting about this scene is when she's inside, doing the laundry, with both girls crying their heads off.  Those kids had been crying for a while, too--you can tell by the pitch.  Mothers are pretty much hard-wired to pick up a crying child, especially a baby,  but it's Ennis, just coming in, who goes to get them up and comfort them.  You notice that baby seems to cry an awful lot when Alma is holding her?  You can tell that Alma is feeling a little stuck, a little frustrated. 

I also got the feeling from my last viewing that Alma divorced Ennis primarily for financial reasons.  It seemed that she was willing to stay with him and share him with Jack if he'd at least be a decent provider. 

camom   

[dalemidex]

What's interesting about this scene is when she's inside, doing the laundry, with both girls crying their heads off.  Those kids had been crying for a while, too--you can tell by the pitch.  Mothers are pretty much hard-wired to pick up a crying child, especially a baby,  but it's Ennis, just coming in, who goes to get them up and comfort them.  You notice that baby seems to cry an awful lot when Alma is holding her?  You can tell that Alma is feeling a little stuck, a little frustrated. 

I definitely agree.  However I do want to throw in that a woman in Alma's shoes in that time period probably did not coddle children the way that many people do now.  They just couldn't.  Just imagine the amount of work keeping clean diapers for two little girls with no washing machine.  That's only one small segment of the work a woman in her shoes had.  Letting kids cry when you had too many other things to do was more of a way of life then versus today.

[camom]

What's interesting about this scene is when she's inside, doing the laundry, with both girls crying their heads off.  Those kids had been crying for a while, too--you can tell by the pitch.  Mothers are pretty much hard-wired to pick up a crying child, especially a baby,  but it's Ennis, just coming in, who goes to get them up and comfort them.  You notice that baby seems to cry an awful lot when Alma is holding her?  You can tell that Alma is feeling a little stuck, a little frustrated. 

I definitely agree.  However I do want to throw in that a woman in Alma's shoes in that time period probably did not coddle children the way that many people do now.  They just couldn't.  Just imagine the amount of work keeping clean diapers for two little girls with no washing machine.  That's only one small segment of the work a woman in her shoes had.  Letting kids cry when you had too many other things to do was more of a way of life then versus today.

True, and Alma is very young.  It's a lot to cope with for a 21 year old.  But it does somewhat explain why the girls are so attached to Daddy.

camom

[kcristob]

I'll have to watch this scene more carefully with my next viewing.  But the outdoor and indoor moods seem SO different to me.  Maybe what I'm not recognizing is that it's relief on Alma's face.  I thought it looked like love.  The inside scene seems squalid (and I agree camom - it was almost all I could do to sit through the scene with babies crying.  I can't imagine being able to let two of my babies cry for a long time like that).  The two scenes don't feel connected to me.

[CherryCake]

But she had to get the laundry done.  She aint had no help. Until Ennis came home to wipe Alma Jr's nose and tend to the other kid.  No wonder he look so beat when he was in his jammies.  He work all day and  come home to tend to the kids.  They had a hard life. 

[camom]

But she had to get the laundry done.  She aint had no help. Until Ennis came home to wipe Alma Jr's nose and tend to the other kid.  No wonder he look so beat when he was in his jammies.  He work all day and  come home to tend to the kids.  They had a hard life. 

No doubt about that.  The number one reason for divorce is financial difficulties, so it's very possible that Ennis and Alma might not have made it in any case. 

camom

[n061857]

This is way off base, guy, but I thought I would add a little levity here.  We hear Alma scrubbing the clothes in the sink before we see her.  Every time I hear that scene the sound reminds me of lovemaking sounds.  The first time I thought, "What is Ennis walking in on?"  Ha!

[dalemidex]

This is way off base, guy, but I thought I would add a little levity here.  We hear Alma scrubbing the clothes in the sink before we see her.  Every time I hear that scene the sound reminds me of lovemaking sounds.  The first time I thought, "What is Ennis walking in on?"  Ha!

I thought the same thing!