relationship between George and Ashley

princessfaz wrote:

Ashley makes several comments to George in the hospital scene, and we find out they are closer than we thought.

Yes, and for some reason that has not been much discussed here, but it is important.

I'm not sure what we are supposed to take from that scene.

Well, at some point in the past, before Ashley became involved with Johnny, George and Ashley were very close. I do not think there is any information about the details, but there are some things that I'm really quite sure about.

Junebug is not a soap opera or a Hollywood melodrama. There is not a deep, dark sexual secret hiding in the family.

Ashley does not show the slightest trace of jealousy of Madeleine. She embraces Madeleine; she wants to know everything about her. This is not the reaction of a previous, rejected lover of George's. She acts like a kid sister who wants to know everything about her big brother's new wife.

There is a moment when they are leaving the church supper in which George has one arm around Madeline and Ashley is dragging them forward by his other arm. Once again like a kid sister, not like an ex-lover.

The age difference between Ashley and George is at least four years, and that is a lot when it comes to sexual involvement in high school.

Ashley literally does not have a family; in practice, George doesn't. At some point they get together, and George becomes the big brother that Ashley always wanted, and Ashley becomes the sibling -- who doesn't hate him -- that he always wanted.

Johnny grew up in the shadow of his older brother. George was always a star, and there was no way the Johnny could equal him, but I believe that Peg constantly compared him, unfavorably, to George.

Remember Cain and Abel. Daddy preferred Abel, and Cain got so angry at that that he killed his brother. It is an old story, and it is constantly repeated.

That is why Johnny hates George. That is why Johnny hits George when George returns from the hospital. It was Johnny's responsibility to comfort Ashley, but he could not do it, and his brother did. Once again, George has succeeded and Johnny has failed. It was always that way.

Johnny grew up with his mother preferring George. If he ever had the idea that George and Ashley are close, it would feel like the same thing all over again, and it would probably destroy him. The only thing that Johnny has is Ashley, and the idea that Ashley is close to his brother who always got the praise would be devastating.

I believe that what Peg is like is a sufficient reason for George to stay away from home -- and he has no relationship with Johnny -- but concern that at some point Ashley might show some affection toward George and Johnny might pick up on is a very real factor.

If Johnny ever got the idea that there was some sort of relationship between Ashley and George, the suspicion that Ashley really preferred George to him would likely take root in his mind. That kind of jealousy has nothing to do with reason, and he would probably never get over it

What it comes down to is that Ashley is the one member of his family that he really cares about, but he can't go anywhere near her because of what it would do to his brother, and Peg has already done more than enough to Johnny.

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Yeah, I felt so much chemistry and love between them in that scene, I even thought that they were a perfect couple not best friends.

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