Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Topic of the Week 1/07: Did Ennis know early on that he was in love with Jack?
BBM-Cat:
No - I don't believe Ennis was able to conceptualize what he felt for Jack as love. He may have realized that he liked Jack, or was very fond of him. Ennis' conceptualization of his feelings was external - this "thing" that grabs hold of him - but I do believe he came to internalize those feelings later in his life.
Kerry:
There's only one person can answer this question - Ennis.
All the rest is simply conjecture IMHO.
ifyoucantfixit:
As with everything about this movie i hesitate to make firm and certain statements. To say I do or don't know about what either of them felt, is difficult with the limited evidence given. However I do * think* Jack did know it was love. Ennis was not as someone said very self aware. He only knew that he had the best friend he had ever had in his short life. He knew also that he loved having sex with Jack. That much is obvious. But to call it love. I doubt it. In the beginning I don't think he even knew what love was really. I don't think he really did know it was love, until Jack died, and he found the shirts. I do think after that he knew. Otherwise he would not have asked Jr. "Does he love you?"
nic:
--- Quote from: Kerry on July 31, 2007, 10:11:00 am ---There's only one person can answer this question - Ennis.
All the rest is simply conjecture IMHO.
--- End quote ---
I'd agree with you bud! But conjecturing can be fun though ;D
For my own conjecturing, I really don't know. I like to run through all the many permutations of when & where etc & I love the fact the story & movie can both seem so ambiguous on not just this very important question, but many others too. I do know that Ennis definitely felt the amazing emotional euphoria of being in love with Jack but I accept that I just cannot pin down when he knew what it was with enough certainty to pin my (cowboy) hat on it.
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: Kerry on July 31, 2007, 10:11:00 am ---There's only one person can answer this question - Ennis.
All the rest is simply conjecture IMHO.
--- End quote ---
Well, Ennis is a fictional character subject to infinite interpretations from reader to reader (or viewer to viewer). That's one of the joys of fiction (I think). The infinite capacity for interpretation. I think Proulx was very, very serious about her imperative that we're supposed to finish the story in our own lives (by which I also take her to mean... impose our own interpretations).
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