Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"Jack, I swear..." What do you think Ennis meant by that?
Jack_ME:
"Jack, I swear...........(I loved you too)"
Finding the shirts Jack kept 20 years, taking possesion of the shirts, enshrining the shirts, moving Jack's shirt inside his own on the hanger to show that Jack is inside his heart and soul, touching the shirts.....touching the postcard image of Brokeback Mountain.....and through all that process having realized the great depth of Jack's love for him during all those 20 years is prelude to his spoken and unspoken words:
"Jack, I swear...........(I loved you too...............just as you loved me)"
Jack in Maine
Jack_ME:
--- Quote from: Aussie Chris on April 01, 2006, 07:57:48 am ---snip
You could also argue that it was more about the sadness or lonliness:
snip
And then there's a slightly abstracted sense (regarding Alma Jr):
Jack, I swear... As long as he (Kurt) loves her, then it's ok
snip
--- End quote ---
AussieChris:
A bit along the lines of these two statements, a good friend of mine with whom I saw the film, said immediately afterwards, that Ennis has, in audibly swearing to Jack, internally decided to "join life again" and to be happy.....by going to his daughter's wedding to start, and will take happiness in an active involvement with his daughter's lives.
I got the sense of what my friend was saying...and it gave me a teeny teeny sliver of emotional hope......although I felt that idea was just a bit too optimistic.
It could be though, if one wants to believe that Ennis (who was also only age 40) could go on to find happiness and peace in his life wherever he could and to live in some bittersweet happiness cherishing the memory of his friend and lover of 20 years.
The story and their relationship is tragic and it's sad, becasue Jack is killed/died, and because the two never had the full day-in day-out partnership that Jack wanted, but even fully realized relationships with mutually loving partners eventually do suffer the loss of one partner thruogh death, and these loving partners do go on with their lives, keeping their memories, loving their loved ones, but living in their own present and having more morments of peace and happiness with others, and more moments of love. Some partners marry again, with no slur on the deceased, others never again marry, simply accepting that they have had their great love partnership in life and take pleasure in other aspects of life.
So, as I say, my friend's view on Ennis's last scenes and words, does offer a sliver of emotional hope for a future NOT filled only with sadness, regret, and loneliness for Ennis.
I have my own take on that final scene as expressed above in a separate post, but this view of my friend's as I understood his meaning is also possible.
Jack in Maine
Aussie Chris:
--- Quote from: Jack_ME on April 14, 2006, 11:42:00 am ---I have my own take on that final scene as expressed above in a separate post, but this view of my friend's as I understood his meaning is also possible.
--- End quote ---
That's right Jack, and as far as I'm concerned they're all 100% correct. Just like rayn has put (much better than I did) in his "jumble of feelings" description. The hope, dispair, love, and even resentment are all emcompassed in that one moment and unfinished sentence. Like you're friend's "join life again" point, everyone's take on it builds on my understanding like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. I don't see any of these interpretations as mutually exclusive, they're all correct. :)
Rayn:
--- Quote from: Jack_ME on April 14, 2006, 11:42:00 am ---So, as I say, my friend's view on Ennis's last scenes and words, does offer a sliver of emotional hope for a future NOT filled only with sadness, regret, and loneliness for Ennis.
Jack in Maine [/color]
--- End quote ---
Oh, yes, Jack and Chris... There is hope for Ennis. I don't know about other people, but I for one see that the strength of Jack's love for Ennis and Ennis' final realization of the depth of his own love for Jack has, like nothing else in life could, "saved" Ennis.
He is able to see what is truly important ... the loved ones around him are; his daughter, for starters is, because Ennis will start over, has no choice but to start over, but with the knowledge of what love really is and how important it is not to stifle it in life. His first step toward a new beginning is his decision to attend "Junior's" wedding.
I don't think anything else could have "saved" Ennis but the real love that the two men continued to share all those years. Although Jack never had what he wanted exactly, he still had as much of Ennis as Ennis could give and, in the end, what Jack gave Ennis was a true gift. I hate that Jack died; I wish he could've convinced Ennis to move beyond his fear and doubt and live with him, but that's not what happened and once Jack died, the chances for that died too, but it's only in death and loss that hope for Ennis is born. He is finally able to move past his fear, meet Jack's folks, move beyond his doubt and see how genuine Jack's love was.
"In my end is my beginning." wrote T. S. Eliot in The Four Quartets; the end of Brokeback Mountain is really a beginning because Ennis starts moving toward being more loving. He begins to let others love him more too. In that, there is great hope.
Peace,
Rayn
hermitdave:
Thank You Rayn. I have had a lot of difficulty dealing with the ending. Every time I visualize Ennis in the final scene I start to cry. Ive had a hard time with wondering what happened to Ennis. I know he is fictional but in my heart and mind he is very real.
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