Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe..."
Brown Eyes:
Hey there Mel! Great thread. Isn't that one of the most beautiful lines? Lovely.
I think it's a combination of what you (Mel) posted in the first post (about his love for Jack and the extent to which he understands his own sexuality and identity) and the confusion over the manner of Jack's death. Maybe this statement, which is at its essence a statement about ambiguity as such, can relate back to all sorts of unresolved aspects of their story. Maybe it can also apply to the question of the way they left things following the argument scene. They parted ways with a hug and "torqued things back" almost to the status quo, but here at BetterMost and probably in the heads of both Jack and Ennis there were concerns about the state of the relationship. Did Jack really finally decide to quit Ennis? What about that other fellow that Jack invited to ranch-up with him (or so Old Man Twist says...)? Having that final postcard returned to Ennis without an answer leaves the question open of what would have happened to them next (in November would Ennis finally have taken a step towards committing to Jack?... Would Jack have broken up with Ennis?). These will remain unresolved things in Ennis head.
So, on this topic, the open space is about what the state of their relationship. But he knew for sure that Jack loved him desperately and he also loved Jack desperately (the shirts are concrete, visible evidence of their true love). And, what I think he tried to believe is that he would have tried to make things work with Jack if November had ever come.
:'(
silkncense:
--- Quote ---Ah yes, a very profound line in the short story..... to me, just like "I swear", it is open to many interpretations, and I think Proulx intended it that way...
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---Maybe this statement, which is at its essence a statement about ambiguity as such, can relate back to all sorts of unresolved aspects of their story.
--- End quote ---
How lucky that we've all been awakened to the many possible interpretations of Annie's writing - that we are not simply left to what we 'knew'.
stevenedel:
"Some open space" - as Mel said, what he knew and what he tried to believe didn't add up. Ennis knew that had he made different choices earlier on, things might have turned out much better than they did. What he tries to believe is, well, "two men living together, no way" - he tries to believe that it couldn't have been any other way, no matter what. Put differently, he knew the problem could have been fixed, but he tries to believe his only option was to stand it.
Just my take on that sentence, which remains heart-wrenching regardless how you interpret it (and probably, because it can be interpreted in so many different ways).
dly64:
Hi Mel -
You can blame Jake_Twist (Jane) for getting me on to this thread. She brought this to my attention and I find this thread really interesting.
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on June 30, 2006, 09:22:46 am ---I've focussed my understanding narrowly and a little bit differently from what I've read above, not really looking at in relation to the manner of Jack's death. I wish I had the story in front of me, but I never carry it with me to work, so here's my reading:
What Ennis knew, thanks to old man Twist, was that shortly before Jack died he had been talking about bringing someone other than Ennis up to Lightning Flat.
What Ennis tried to believe, since the shirts were still in the closet, was that Jack had not quit him and still loved him.
But Jack was dead, he could never really know, so he had to stand it. Poor Ennis. ... :(
--- End quote ---
Jeff - you and I see eye to eye in many ways. I think I see your viewpoint as similar to mine. This just expands your thought a little further ….
The screenplay mentions that "Ennis looks out the window, at the great bleakness of the vast northern plains." To me, this symbolizes Ennis’ life without Jack. Ennis has lost the one man he loved. The only person he will ever love. His life is like the "bleak plain" ... colorless, empty. When he was with Jack, their love was like the mountain … high, beautiful, pure. With Jack (in the mountains) Ennis could be invisible … he could be himself without any societal constraints and probing eyes. Below … he was “nothing … nowhere ....”
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: dly64 on July 02, 2006, 03:20:20 pm ---The screenplay mentions that "Ennis looks out the window, at the great bleakness of the vast northern plains." To me, this symbolizes Ennis’ life without Jack. Ennis has lost the one man he loved. The only person he will ever love. His life is like the "bleak plain" ... colorless, empty. When he was with Jack, their love was like the mountain … high, beautiful, pure. With Jack (in the mountains) Ennis could be invisible … he could be himself without any societal constraints and probing eyes. Below … he was “nothing … nowhere ....”
--- End quote ---
Tell you what, I may be alone in this, but I have a problem with that final shot out the window of Ennis's trailer--well, actually I don't. What I'm saying is, for me that shot as we see it doesn't go with what the screenplay says about "the great bleakness of the vast northern plains."
Why? Whatever that green stuff is that we see blowin' in the wind across the road from Ennis's trailer, whether it be some type of grain or just some kind of tall prairie grass, still, it's green, it's alive, it's growing. For me that's a hopeful image. For bleakness I require brown, dried, dead vegetation.
I'm supposing that combined with/coming after Ennis's about-face agreement to go to Alma, Jr.,'s wedding, that final shot of the living, growing vegetation contributed to why I always left the theater feeling uplifted and hopeful. So if that final shot is intended to convey bleakness and despair, it doesn't work for me.
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