Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"Jack, I swear..." What do you think Ennis meant by that?
moremojo:
--- Quote from: HerrKaiser on February 14, 2007, 06:55:46 pm ---Back to the "...I swear..." subject; this goes full circle. Ennis in ONLY TWO WORDS spoke a lifetime of love and commitment. Jack would never have heard this or felt it, which is not to demean wonderful Jack...he just needed alot of overt attention and he admitted this.
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Nicely put. I feel that we see Ennis's entire life story writ on his face at this closing moment; it's harrowing and beautiful all at once.
Going back to Proulx's original story, Ennis's all-important affirmation is followed by the authorial (and I'm paraphrasing from memory) "though Jack had never asked him to swear anything, and was not himself the swearing kind." It's a cryptic phrase, and makes the pain of the moment all the more heart-rending. Jack is gone, but he very much lives on in Ennis's heart and dreams (Ennis literally begins to see him in his dreams at this point in the tale), and Ennis feels the need to affirm, however haltingly, what Jack and Brokeback meant and continue to mean to him. Jack's own affirmation remained silent and private (the hidden intertwined shirts).
HerrKaiser:
--- Quote from: moremojo on February 14, 2007, 07:44:06 pm ---Nicely put. I feel that we see Ennis's entire life story writ on his face at this closing moment; it's harrowing and beautiful all at once.
Going back to Proulx's original story, Ennis's all-important affirmation is followed by the authorial (and I'm paraphrasing from memory) "though Jack had never asked him to swear anything, and was not himself the swearing kind." It's a cryptic phrase, and makes the pain of the moment all the more heart-rending. Jack is gone, but he very much lives on in Ennis's heart and dreams (Ennis literally begins to see him in his dreams at this point in the tale), and Ennis feels the need to affirm, however haltingly, what Jack and Brokeback meant and continue to mean to him. Jack's own affirmation remained silent and private (the hidden intertwined shirts).
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Thanks for this insight, and isn't this the irony? Jack wasn't the swearing kind, yet it was he who was so vocal about attention. In death, Jack was not 'nagging' about what he did not have; rather, the "silent and private" Jack was now exactly parallel to what Ennis is in life, and Ennis promises to remain alligiant to this newly crystalized love.
Rayn:
--- Quote from: moremojo on February 14, 2007, 02:46:44 pm ---I think Jack very clearly would have left Lureen if he had a guarantee that Ennis would be there to pick up the pieces, and we have evidence in two scenes: at the campfire, post-reunion, when Jack states with aplomb that they could start up the "sweet life" with money that L.D. would likely give Jack for divorcing his daughter, and post-divorce, when Jack redlines it to Riverton with only Ennis's terse postcard to fuel his happiness that their moment has arrived.
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I agree with moremojo all the way.... There is also the fact that when Jack read about Ennis and Alma's divorce in the newspaper, he hauled ass to Ennis thinking this "was it".... He and Ennis could be together at last. How sad that he misunderstood that situation.
And HerrKaiser's point about the TWO WORDS, "I swear" is good too, but there are two other words that could be remembered when considering why Ennis never remarried. When Alma speaks of her concerned that Ennis hasn't remarried, Ennis' answer is very clear, "ONCE BURNED..."
I see Ennis as a very sensitive man, quiet, but very deep and the pain of his childhood, the loss of his folks, the very hard life he had was a whole lot for anyone to handle.
I think Ennis never remarried because although he didn't express it verbally he clearly loved Jack and couldn't take on any more emotional involvement. He did afterall, have the open offer from the waitress that he dated for a while.... (I can't recall her name). She wanted to marry him.
No, Ennis just felt he couldn't take anymore pain caused by getting involved with another lover in his life. As far as solid and deeply emotional relationships, Jack, in the end, was all he really had and all he could handle, which make the loss of Jack even sadder for him.
Rayn
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: marlb42 on February 14, 2007, 07:28:18 pm ---In my opinion I really believe that Jack was asking Ennis if he would get married again because like he did a lot he was pushing Ennis to say what he couldn't say.
Just like when Ennis said ' I'm sending a prayer of thanks' and Jack asked 'for what?'. Wasn't it obvious what the prayer of thanks was for?
But to me Jack had to push Ennis, but Ennis said as much as he was able to.
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This is my take on it, too. Jack was baiting Ennis, trying to get Ennis to admit WHY he hadn't got married again. Ennis couldn't say it outright. On the other hand, his indifferent and lackluster description of his relationship with Cassie speaks volumes. Again, Jack should have been able to read between the lines.
--- Quote ---As to 'I swear', you know that is one of the few lines that I have still not really be able to put any meanings to. I have many ideas but actually, I dunno, this one is still a mystery to me in many ways.
I think it obviously could mean a whole lot of things depending on one's own interpretion.
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I think it not only could mean a whole lot of things, I think it actually DOES mean a whole lot of things, all at once!
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on February 16, 2007, 12:46:56 pm ---I think it not only could mean a whole lot of things, I think it actually DOES mean a whole lot of things, all at once!
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Well, you know I agree with this. And I think that this is the part that is intended for each audience member to "finish the story" in his or her own way (based on whatever personal inclinations might lead to a particular interpretation and/ or based on all the conclusions the audience member has come to after watching the movie and trying to navigate all the other ambiguous moments throughout the film). I also think this is a way of conveying the idea of the "open space" in what Ennis knows and tries to believe. Annie, I think uses the "I swear..." line in the story to reinforce that great line about the "open space". In the film (and probably the story too) if a person is inclined to be a romantic/ to be optimistic, etc. they might fill in Ennis's sentence in a very different way than if they have a negative view of how the relationship developed over the 20 yrs.
Essentially, I think it's intentional that there is no right or wrong answer to how Ennis completes his sentence. And there's even the option that there is no thought after "I swear..." Maybe that's just all there is... Maybe that is the complete thought (even though it doesn't sound like it's a complete thought). The possibilities are flexible and very numerous (though probably not infinite if one wants to remain within the bounds of likelihood and probability given what we know about film-Ennis, etc.).
The more I think about it, the more it seems that this final sentence and the flashback absolutely define the film. Can you imagine how different this movie would seem without either one of those elements?
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