Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Joe Aguirre: what do you think of this character as portrayed in the movie?
Sammi:
A question about Aguirre - why did he not say anything to the guys about what he had seen until Jack came back the following year? He was dissapointed in their work, and told them he was not happy with the job they did, saying "ranch stiffs never worth a damn" but he never lets on that he knows until the following year when Jack comes back (alone). Why did he wait? If Jack had never happened to come back Aguirre would have never let on to them that he knew? He seemed pretty mad but kept it to himself while they were both there unloading the sheep. Did he need time for it to sink in? I don't understand why he did not say anything about it right then.
southendmd:
That's a good question, Sammi.
If you see Aguirre as a businessman, then it doesn't matter that he knows. He knows the count isn't what he wanted, and what's done is done.
In fact, when Jack comes back alone the next year looking for work, Aguirre doesn't mention it then either. Just "ain't got no work for you". It isn't until Jack mentions Ennis that he lets on that he knows. And he does it in a business context--"you wasn't gettin' paid to let the dogs babysit the sheep while you stem the rose".
Sammi:
So he was just upset that they did not return the amount of sheep he wanted, regardless of what they were doing. He saw it like they were goofing off.
I wonder what the count they returned was. The year before he said he had a 25% loss. I wonder what % it was that year. We only saw one sheep killed, but just guessing, say if only 10 were lost was that too many? I wonder if he expected zero loss. Tell you what, that seems unrealistic even if they were doing their job perfectly.
Front-Ranger:
I agree with southendmd and others about Aguirre's tolerance of the Ennis/Jack relationship up to a point. I think brokeplex put this best when he said, earlier in this thread, about Aguirre starting to get irritated just at the point when Jack tried to use him as a (LOL) dating service:
http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,15379.msg303580.html#msg303580
Regarding the sheep count, that has always been something that has puzzled me too, Sammi. Particularly when Aguirre wasn't happy with the count at the end of Ennis' and Jack's year together. It seems to me that there would be a higher count which should make Aguirre happy, especially when he noted that "some of those sheep never went up there with you."
Methinks there is something allegorical going on here. I would like to think that Annie Proulx is saying that there are blue-paint-branded sheep and red-paint-branded sheep, and they are all mixed together, and there are all different ways of sorting and accounting for these sheep, but they are ALL SHEEP, so it doesn't matter, particularly after we have all been up on the mountain together, been through lightning storms, hail, the spin cycle, wind and rain, and the paint brands are worn and faint so what does it matter, enniway!
Monika:
Personally, I doubt Aguirre would give the boys and credit even if they managed 0% loss. It just seems that he thinks of Ennis and Jack as a pair of deuces from the start, and nothing will ever change that. He has more power and money than them two, he knows it, and is not about to let them ever forget it.
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