It would have been nice if Jack had lived.

It's better that he did croak.

After a couple of years, the bloom would be off the rose (so to speak).

Jack would be walking around the house smoking a ciggie in his tidy whiteys scratching his junk like he was mining a diamond while bellowing for Rose to fetch him a beer.

The reality never lives up to the fantasy..

If he was arrested just for stealing a coat, it's more than likely he would've ended up EXECUTED before too long.

Oh, it'd never have worked out, Jack trying to support the inevitable kids and a wife with expensive tastes, with no skills but being able to draw a bit. He'd have missed his freedom so much that he'd have been out of there after the bloom wore off the baby's diapers.

That's an essential weakness in the film, it's a romance story... where the romantic hero is actually better off dead.