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Questions about the beginning of the story/film

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BlissC:
I've been thinking about this for a few days, but a question about where Jack and Ennis spent the night of the first night after they met at Aguirre's on another thread set me thinking about it again.

I guess my questions are in part because I'm from the UK and not familiar with the ways of the rural US, so please forgive me if the answers to these questions are blindingly obvious to those with knowledge of the era and the area.

At the very start of the film we see Ennis climbing down from a lorry he's presumably hitched a lift on. The SS says "That spring, hungry for any job, each had signed up with Farm and Ranch Employment..." (presumably this is an employment agency?), but what's always puzzled me is where they both would have been living. Neither the film or story give any clues. Jack has his own truck, but Ennis has no transport. All we know of Ennis is that he when his brother married there was no room for him any more. If they'd both been working on ranches would they have been living at the ranches? Would they have been renting somewhere? Jack has his truck - he may not have that much in the way of other possessions, but at least he has transport and therefore presumably some money, whereas we see Ennis arrive with just a paper bag. That, I must admit has always puzzled me a little as I guess it's meant to show he didn't have much in the way of possessions, but we don't see him wearing the same clothes throughout the summer - he must have had more than one shirt, and I seem to recall a couple of different coats in the film, so where had he got them stashed?

Similarly with the end of the summer when they came down from Brokeback - where would they have gone to? Jack mentions before they leave the mountain lending Ennis some money until they get to Signal (was Aguirre's place at Signal?) but apart from saying that he may go to his parents over the winter, Jack says no more about where he's headed to, and Ennis says he's marrying Alma, so presumably he goes back to Riverton, but where would he be living?

And then of course, back to the original question - after they'd met Aguirre and spent the afternoon drinking in a bar, where would they have spent the night?

Anyone got any ideas?

Front-Ranger:
Thanks for asking, these are good questions! A deleted scene from the movie showed Jack and Ennis sleeping in Jack's truck, altho Ennis was just sitting in the passenger seat awake. It's hard to say where Ennis came from before he arrived at Signal. He probably came from the Worland area where he was working on a ranch or maybe from Casper where he might have been visiting his sister. Jack came from Lightning Flat where he was visiting home after being on the rodeo circuit. "Signal" was located in the north central part of Wyoming so the two men came from opposite directions to be there. Neither one of them had a home of their own. Ranch "stiffs" usually stayed at a bunkhouse on the ranches where they worked.

BlissC:

--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on March 14, 2008, 01:43:03 pm ---A deleted scene from the movie showed Jack and Ennis sleeping in Jack's truck, altho Ennis was just sitting in the passenger seat awake.
--- End quote ---

Ah! That's interesting. I wonder why it got deleted? Maybe because it wasn't in the original story?


--- Quote ---It's hard to say where Ennis came from before he arrived at Signal. He probably came from the Worland area where he was working on a ranch or maybe from Casper where he might have been visiting his sister. Jack came from Lightning Flat where he was visiting home after being on the rodeo circuit. "Signal" was located in the north central part of Wyoming so the two men came from opposite directions to be there. Neither one of them had a home of their own. Ranch "stiffs" usually stayed at a bunkhouse on the ranches where they worked.

--- End quote ---

I remember now the story saying they were from "opposite corners of the state". Staying at the ranches where they worked makes sense too. I'm just wondering though, where would they stay if they didn't have a job? Was it easy to come by work at that time in the area?

Brown Eyes:
Am I correct in thinking that the door of the semi-truck says "Sage" on it?  I mean that might just be a clever, subtle way of referencing Ennis's origins and not necessarily a clue about exactly where he's coming from at this precise moment.  I tend to agree that Ennis is probably either coming from his sister's or his brother's house.

Jack in a way is sort of trickier... To me, it depends on when or if we believe OMT "ran him off."  So, he's either coming from Lightning Flat... or some totally unspecified location.

Penthesilea:

--- Quote from: atz75 on March 14, 2008, 04:07:27 pm ---Am I correct in thinking that the door of the semi-truck says "Sage" on it? 

--- End quote ---


No. I remember we've discussed this before. No proper screencap of the open truck door to be found anywhere (at least I couldn't find one). But I've checked the DVD, played it in slow motion and paused to have a close look at the door of the truck. The first two letters are S and A, but the third is not a G. I'm positive about this.

My personal guess would be Ennis came directly from Worland, where he had worked with his brother. That's how he tells his story (paraphrasing from memory): ... ranch in Worland., Brother married. No more room for me (gawd, I could strangle his brother when Ennis says this  >:(). That's how come me end up here.

And Jack? My feeling is that he came directly from LF. I think the rodeos he had participated previously had been local events around his area. I don't believe he had lived "on the circuit" at this point. But of course everybody elses guess is as good as mine.

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