Thanks Jack in Maine.
I do have to agree that 'some ranch neighbor of his from down in Texas' does not necessarily mean that the gender of the partner is male.
However, 'build a cabin...help run the ranch' seems to suggest that the partner is males as one could not expect LaShawn to help do ranch chores.
But your questioning the standard interpretation makes sense. There is quite a lot of ambiguity here to keep us busy thinking...
Hi tpe,
Thanks for the response.
But I'm sorry to say, I must not have been clear, for you have misinterpreted something I was saying (not sure what part) but I didn't mean to imply that there was any question about Jack ALSO having an affair with a man, which is whom Mr. Twist is referring to.
No, I believe that Jack was also having this affair with a man, and frankly it makes sense that this man would be Randall.
My comments intended to say that just because we have seen LaShawn, we automatically assume that this "Rancher's wife" Jack speaks of to Ennis either IS LaShawn or must be a deceptive way of actually describing Randall.
I'm saying Jack is BI-sexual, and so he IS having an affair with a woman, AND also having an affair with, possibly and likely, Randall.
We have no real idea of the time frame involved in his comments.
For instance, Jack could have had an affair with a woman which was already dying down, or it might have become replaced by his affair with "a" Randall. So it doesn't mean he was lying, but it also doesn't tell us how active or current that affair was.
Don't forget that in the beginning and for about 8 years? both Jack and Ennis are married to women. And Jack is still married to a woman at the end. And Jack and Ennis are having their love affair. So it's not impossible for someone like Jack, to have had multiple affairs, short or long term, over these years. We KNOW he went to Mexico.
I'm just pointing that the possibility exists that Jack is married to Lureen, is having his long term affair with Ennis, is also having an affair, possibly one growing in importance with "a" Randall, and is also or had recently had an affair before/during with a woman, some rancher's wife.
Jack in Maine
ADDED EDIT: I see where I was not clear, lumping two a reference together.
My point here is that we do see Randall, so we assume Randall is the guy in question when Mr. Twist speaks.
Well, we also see LaShawn. Jack says Rancher's wife. Why couldn't it be her? OR why couldn't it be even some other wife?
What I meant to be saying here is we see Randall, so later when a guy is referenced we assume it must be Randall becasue we've already seen him. And I'm saying, in a different context, we've also seen LaShawn, so later when Jack references a Rancher's wife, why don't we make this same assumption, or if we DO make this same assumption, is that right? (NOT about going up to the parents, but about having the affair with a woman) Could not there be ANOTHER women to whom Jack is referrring when he speaks of his affair?
In other words, can't Jack be speaking the truth about having an affair with a woman, and does it then HAVE to be LaShawn, or could it be some other unknown woman?