In Pursuit of Happiness: Chapter 8- Memory Lane

[hit_the_hay_65]

Title: In Pursuit of Happiness: Chapter Eight- Memory Lane
Author: Mia
Rating: An R for now, but slowly working upwards…
Pairing: None other than Jack and Ennis.
Summary: This is going to be a dark story about possession, love and abuse in the high school setting.
Disclaimer: Jack and Ennis are the fabulous creation of Annie Proulx. They don’t

Comments

[rt_in_town]

Jack's father certainly has an unexpected and surprising backstory. I love how this gentle and beautiful Jack, even back when he was a child, has always inspired a sense of protectiveness and fierce loyalty from a certain kind of man.... I think it's very perceptive of you to have Lucas' feelings for Jack so closely mirror Ennis' in many ways. What I liked most about Lucas' thoughts was to imagine what he would feel, with his unconditional love for his boy, to know that though he can't be there to protect and love his son, yet Jack has found another man to take care of him, another man who loves him and would equally be willing to stake his life and his existence to ensure Jack's well being.

Interesting background with Jack's father.... I'm most interested in finding out how Jack shares the legacy of that trauma with Ennis, and how it might advance the love that continues to draw them closer to each other.
They went to the cemetery to look at the grave of Ennis' brother, but it seems that this would also be the perfect time for Jack to reveal his own emotional and personal connection with that graveyard, to share this vulnerable secret from his past the way Ennis has already parted with his.

I wonder what Ennis would say, and what Jack would feel if he were to talk about those days of seven year old Jack, steeped in the dread certainty that he is about to be abandoned.... I'm sure Jack still misses the presence of his father, but just as Jack partly compensates for the loss of Ennis' brother, I wonder if Jack feels that Ennis' presence in his life is likewise able to redress that missing sense of love that was embodied in that earlier figure, who represented to him all the security of having a masculine loving figure in his life....

I look forward to seeing where this goes in the next chapters!
--Alex

[hit_the_hay_65]

Hi Alex, thanks so much for reading! I'm really glad that you enjoyed this chapter :)

I love how this gentle and beautiful Jack, even back when he was a child, has always inspired a sense of protectiveness and fierce loyalty from a certain kind of man.

Definitely; I think Jack has a natural kind of vulnerability about him which was of course completely evident when he was a baby and is still visible to Ennis now. Jack is strong in his own ways- he deals with a lot- but yes, he needs someone to look after him and I think it's a very fair point that Ennis does, to an extent, redress the loss of Lucas. Part of what I wanted to do with IPOH was explore the idea of family aside from all the issues of love and sexuality so I'm really pleased that's an aspect which has you thinking :)

I was really interested by your thoughts about what Lucas might make of the fact that Jack has found someone else who loves him deeply, especially as it's another man...I make no secret of the fact that Lucas is a positive character- even his name means "my angel." I was originally planning for Lucas's last line in this chapter to be about how he hopes Jack is with someone who loves him; it's quite possible that his experience of being in prison has taught him that when you find something good, you have to hold onto it no matter what. I think he may feel grateful for Ennis, especially if/when he finds out about the life Jack's been forced to deal with, to which Ennis has been the ministering angel.

this would also be the perfect time for Jack to reveal his own emotional and personal connection with that graveyard, to share this vulnerable secret from his past the way Ennis has already parted with his.

I agree with you, and I know Jack will share everything with Ennis soon enough. I think that whilst Ennis began in IPOH as a character who was really looking for someone to open up to, Jack began as a character who was so beaten down that he didn't want to open up, so it's taking him a little longer to share things with Ennis, even though he adores him, and knows that he can trust him with anything. Ennis, like any man in love, wants to know all that there is to know about his sweetheart, but he recognises that for now Jack just needs to feel the warmth and security of their relationship, and once he has done that for a while, he will open up completely :)

Thank you so much for your comment, Alex. I really enjoy talking over the points of the story with you; you always get me thinking too!

Mia :)