MovieChat Forums > Tuck Everlasting (2002) Discussion > I think Jesse was just a tad bit selfish...

I think Jesse was just a tad bit selfish IMO

posted 16 years ago by Juliet_Alpert
15 replies | jump to latest

Sorry if this has been posted before, I just saw this movie for the first time a week ago. I am not sure how to word this exactally without sounding like I am bashing Jesse Tuck because he really was a good person but I think it was kind of selfish of him to ask Winnie to drink from the spring. I mean it was what 85 years before he came back to look for her? Winnie really didn't know anything about being immortal and I am wondering if he just expected her to go through all of that alone. If you think about it she really couldn't have told anyone and people would start asking questions if as they grew older and she never changed. I just really couldn't imagine him truly believing she could face all of the loneliness and alienation of immortality, with her being as sensitive as she was.So I can really see why she didn't take it. Life would have been wonderful had Jesse stayed or Winnie left with him but would have been horrible to have to bear all by herself.

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[–] jbphill84 16 years ago

You made some very good points, Flicka. I have also wondered why Jesse waited so long to come back for her. And where does he go, almost immediately? The cemetery. He must've known that she was going to live her life as normal. He shouldn't have waited so long to come back, especially since he loved her so much supposedly.

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[–] Juliet_Alpert 16 years ago

I don't know, I mean you would think that after a year or so, heck we will say ten just to give him the benifit of the doubt, people would have stopped looking for the Tucks and he could have at least gone back and let her know he still loved her.

"If I make a fool of myself, who cares? I'm not frightened by anyone's perception of me"

[–] past_tyme 15 years ago

The movie made the point that once you stop aging and caring about how much time goes by you lose track of time. Yes it was 85 years, but to Jesse it might not have been long at all. I don't think he was thinking of it in those terms.

[–] EdenParadise 14 years ago

He went to her house, not a cemetery. The reason she's buried there is because she wanted to be close to Jesse, in a way. She still loved him after so long, but more as a long-lost love, no longer romantically. If she had forgotten him, she would have been buried near her family, probably. But she knew that he would come back for her, he would know where to look, and that he would either find her grave, or an immortal Winnie waiting for him. Personally, I think Winnie would have lived in the woods like the Tucks did, or maybe tried to find them somewhere if she had drank. But Jesse probably figured, since he never heard of her looking for them, that she stayed mortal and lived and died.

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[–] Juliet_Alpert 15 years ago

I don't know. I mean if she was really in love with him I couldn't imagine her not going back into the woods and visiting his house and trying to preserve memories and things like that. I guess its one of those things we'll never know.

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[–] thenYES 15 years ago

I definetly think it was selfish of Jesse to ask her to stay with him, but I think that's the genius of Jesse's character. He's not perfect - he's really just a lonely boy trying to make the best of his situation. He's impulsive and lively and just wants someone to share that with, and sees himself sharing with Winnie.

But Winnie knew that it wasn't what was best for her and she didn't drink. And I think Jesse knew too, deep down, that it was selfish of him to ask her and that she would have chosen life. And that's why he went to the cemetary. Because he always knew what she would choose. But that's just my thoughts about it.

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[–] MichaelJacksonsPYT 15 years ago

The problem with the ending is that he did not come back within a reasonable amount of time. About 80 years is ridiculous!

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] TNA-Sting_Fan 15 years ago

Perhaps they should have a sequel showing what happened to Jesse after they left Treegap and Winnie.

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[–] rizzo62989 15 years ago

In the book Winnie was buried on her property. He was looking for her and couldn't find her but found her headstone.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] mshacket 14 years ago

Well, think about this, guys. When he told Winnie to drink from the spring, he was in a rush. It was probably the first thing that came to his mind and he just really wanted it to happen, so he said it. I do think it was a little crazy that he came back so much later, but think of all the things that could have happened in that time? She could have been looking for him if she drank from it, so he was waiting for her. He could have been running from people and hadn't been able to come for that long. So much could have happened. You get me?

[–] Lifeguardfan 14 years ago

Who says he didn't come back a year or two later? Maybe he did come back in a reasonable time, but Winnie told him that she chose not to drink and to "live her life." At that point, I can see him leaving her for good out of respect and revisiting her once he heard news of her passing.

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[–] busybeingthegirlthatiam 14 years ago

i really hope he came back immediately then just later came to visit her grave
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[–] Elouai 13 years ago

I agree with you, I even think that Jesse is a total jerk for waiting 85 years and expecting her to have waited that long. I mean, would you have continued to love someone if they made you wait that long to be reunited? But now that I think about it, you'd think if he really loved her he'd come back as soon as he could. That probably is the case, but I don't think the movie conveyed that well at all. We'll never know though, in the book the love story doesn't exisit.

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