what possessed Jack to take that shirt in the first place?

[nakymaton]

So the shirts are one of the most powerful images I've ever seen in a story or in a movie. They just destroy me. I love them.

But I keep wondering: what was going through Jack's head when he took Ennis's shirt? Did he figure that he would never see Ennis again, and wanted some part of Ennis to hold onto? Did he just pick the shirt up from the ground after Ennis took it off, first thinking that he would give it back to Ennis when Ennis had settled down, but then the right moment never came, and at some level Jack wanted to keep the shirt?

Or...?

[tiawahcowboy]

He took Ennis's shirt probably for more less the very same reason that Ennis took the shirts from Jack's boyhood makeshift closet. The shirt was a remembrance of their good times up on Brokeback.

Oh, due to the fact that Ennis Del Mar was too poor to own very many clothes, Jack also probably decided to "steal" the shirt because Ennis could not afford to give Jack the shirt off is back. The "blood" on the shirts seems to have the connotation of being "blood brothers."

[opinionista]

So the shirts are one of the most powerful images I've ever seen in a story or in a movie. They just destroy me. I love them.

But I keep wondering: what was going through Jack's head when he took Ennis's shirt? Did he figure that he would never see Ennis again, and wanted some part of Ennis to hold onto? Did he just pick the shirt up from the ground after Ennis took it off, first thinking that he would give it back to Ennis when Ennis had settled down, but then the right moment never came, and at some level Jack wanted to keep the shirt?

Or...?

I guess Jack figured it was unlikely they see each other again or at least have the same relationship they had during that summer. Ennis had already announced he was marrying Alma as soon as he went down from Brokeback Mountain. So after they have the fight, Ennis changed his shirt and probably left somewhere. Jack saw it and took it with the intention of giving it to him, but changed his mind and decided to take it with him as a keepsake. I guess Jack already knew Ennis was the best thing that ever happened to him.

[stubbyeddy]

justed wanted to add, my last 'boyfriend' he stole one of my shirts, i found it later on in his closet. when i asked him why he just didnt ask me for it, he said he was just embarrased to ask. I asked him why he took it, he simply said becaue it was mine and that it smelt of me, we didnt see each other often, only once or twice a year. I didnt press the issue beyond that. well just wanted to add that...

[tiawahcowboy]

From the book:

The shirt seemed heavy until he saw there was another shirt inside it, the sleeves carefully worked down inside Jack's sleeves. It was his own plaid shirt, lost, he'd thought, long ago in some damn laundry, his dirty shirt, the pocket ripped, buttons missing, stolen by Jack and hidden here inside Jack's own shirt, the pair like two skins, one inside the other, two in one. He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly through his mouth and nose, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands.

When Jack took the shirts, they did have the smell of the mountain on them. They probably had grass stains all over them, too, since they had been wrestling, as well as the smell of wild sage. Oh, wild sage makes good incense and can be used for spiritual purposes.

[nakymaton]

justed wanted to add, my last 'boyfriend' he stole one of my shirts, i found it later on in his closet. when i asked him why he just didnt ask me for it, he said he was just embarrased to ask. I asked him why he took it, he simply said becaue it was mine and that it smelt of me, we didnt see each other often, only once or twice a year. I didnt press it issue anymore then that. well just wanted to add that...

Thank you, Eddy. You know, since the movie, I've seen lots of guys saying that they either had taken a shirt themselves, or had a boyfriend take theirs. (And each of the stories really gets me, every time, no matter how many times I hear them.) I guess I've exchanged shirts (well, his shirt; my over-sized sweater) with a guy when we were separated by an ocean, and I remember how emotional I got when I smelled him on his shirt. But he had to mail the shirt to me, and I had to mail the sweater to him. I don't think it would have ever occurred to me to simply take something he had worn.

There's something kind of sad and poignant about just taking the shirt rather than asking for it (or offering a shirt in exchange). I'm not sure I understand quite why I feel that way.

(And, yes, the scent of wild sage really is one of the saddest and most beautiful smells around. I can get misty-eyed at the smell of pines, or the sea, but sage tops them all.)

[Meryl]

I think after the punch, Jack's hopes of keeping in touch with Ennis after the summer were considerably dimmed.  When he had the chance, he took the shirt, knowing he could at least have a little bit of Ennis left to comfort him.  Just seeing those shirts in his closet over the years (and being unable to throw them out) might have been the reason Jack finally got up the nerve to contact Ennis again.

When my dad died, I took one of his shirts and hung it inside my closet door, just like Ennis does in his trailer.  Now that my mom is gone, a few of her clothes hang next to it in my closet to this day.  There's something comforting about having the clothes they wore when you were with them, when you could still hug them.

[tiawahcowboy]

(And, yes, the scent of wild sage really is one of the saddest and most beautiful smells around. I can get misty-eyed at the smell of pines, or the sea, but sage tops them all.)

I see nothing sad about the smell of wild sage in its fresh or dried versions; nor do I feel sad when I burn it in a Native American ritual. The rising smoke reminds me of sending prayers up to the Creator Spirit and the smoke permeating the room makes me think of His Spirit surrounding me.

I have been in sweat lodge ceremonies where sage, tobacco and cedar was used and dropped on the glowing "grandfathers" (the translated name for the rocks heated until red hot) in the fire pit.

[pinku]

What else did he have? That was the only tangible object that he had had to remember his darling, Jack! Looks like the shirts were enough for Ennis to spend his life remembering those unaffected/uncomplicated days at Brokeback, note the postcard  pasted/pinned near the shirts! I mean he did not even have the dubious comfort of going to Jack's grave!Beautifully enacted on the screen!   

[RouxB]

When I was in college I frequently wore my boyfriends clothes-they smelled of him and reminded me of him everyday (and he loved seeing me in his things-especially his bathrobe-go figure). There was a particular sweater that I kept as mine but when riding my bike home from class one day it fell from around my waist and I lost it. I looked for that damn sweater for days! I saw my loss of it as a premonition of my loss of him. I was completely heart broken when I was unable to find it.

I think we do equate personal items-particularly clothing-with the essence of loved ones. When I graduated and was about to move back home, I went to see this, now ex, boyfriend to return a jacket of his. He was sad to get it back and he admitted that as long as I had it, he had a reason to stay connected to me.