Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"Jack, I swear..." What do you think Ennis meant by that?
Rayn:
--- Quote from: texman on April 15, 2006, 06:08:17 pm --- So in this case the use of "I swear" is used to describe how Ennis feels rather than what he is thinking. So "I swear" means just that and that alone. There isn't any more.
--- End quote ---
Yes, if you read my first post to open this topic, you will find that one of my first possible conclusions is that Ennis just meant something like, "Why, I declare!" , a simple but heartfelt exclamation like texman is pointing too, but the fact is, he is speaking directly to Jack... "Jack, I swear..." and that is not a simple exclamation, it's unusual; and makes people wonder. So while I understand what you're pointing to texman, I still feel there's more in the "mysterious statement". It is clear that he is "talking directly to Jack" as if Jack were there which seems to indicate there's more to it.
But in the end, the line is open to almost any interpretation and so is what lies ahead for Ennis.
In another thread that asks us to write the future for Ennis, I wrote something like, He gets help, comes out, moves to Denver, meets a guy similar to Jack, falls for him, struggles, dates, the guy falls for Ennis and they end up living together, not happily ever after, because that isn't real life, but he finds a partner to share his life with... and that's the end, as good an end as any.
It's fiction, anything is possible.
Peace,
Rayn
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Rayn on April 21, 2006, 08:56:14 am ---But in the end, the line is open to almost any interpretation and so is what lies ahead for Ennis.
In another thread that asks us to write the future for Ennis, I wrote something like, He gets help, comes out, moves to Denver, meets a guy similar to Jack, falls for him, struggles, dates, the guy falls for Ennis and they end up living together, not happily ever after, because that isn't real life, but he finds a partner to share his life with... and that's the end, as good an end as any.
--- End quote ---
You bet. It's kind of like the question of what happens after we die; you have to go with the interpretation that either makes the most sense or makes you feel the most comfortable.
Still, the uncertainty is unsettling ...
ednbarby:
I like to think of Ennis attending Junior's wedding and proudly walking her down the aisle to this Kurt who really does love her. Of looking Kurt in the eye as if to say "If you fuck this up, I'm comin' after you." And I like to think of him getting Alma aside at some point and in his gruff, Ennis-ish way, saying something like "I'm awful sorry about... everything." And her understanding on a certain level, especially after she asks Ennis if he's seen Jack lately only to hear from him that he has died. Maybe even forgiving, since the life she now has with Monroe is a happy one, if not one with the love of her life. And I like to think of Junior having a son with Kurt - maybe two sons. And naming one of them after their granddaddy. And of Ennis teaching them how to ride and getting some measure of joy - as much as is possible for him at this point - out of that. I have to think of something good coming out of his life, or I'd just be wrecked for the rest of my days for him.
Toast:
This is a beautiful thread.
and our hope for a better life for Ennis colors our interpretations.
I agree that Ennis has had a lesson in love since Jack died
but there is one thing that really gets to me
In the scenes at his trailer, with jr and alone, he is wearing a coat that is pretty much a carbon copy of his father's coat, worn in the irrigation ditch scene.
My eyes focus on that coat whenever I watch those scenes, and I wonder what it might tell me about Ennis' accepting his father's perspective on "rodeo fuckups" and "two men living together".
Do we ever get over what our parents taught us??
jlp1:
I agree with Grandma. I think Ennis wishes he had it all to do over again and would do it differently.
Reminds me of the quote (from the starbucks cup) from Armistead Maupin: “My only regret about being gay is that I repressed it for so long. I surrendered my youth to the people I feared when I could have been out there loving someone. Don’t make that mistake yourself. Life’s too damn short.”
I came out quite late and feel alot of Ennis' pain... So few chances at real love in the life and his one is gone by - so much pain and regret...
JLP
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