Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Ennis and the final card
Front-Ranger:
Verr' interesting, Brown Eyes! And conversely, Alma replaces Jack's last name with the word "nasty."
Brown Eyes:
The use of full names or names in general seems pretty interesting. Now that I think about Ennis and Cassie's first meeting, she mimicks the way Ennis uses his full name (but she most closely echos the way Ennis sounded when he first met Jack): "Cassie... Cassie Cartwright"
I think when it comes to Ennis, the name issue is bound up with the overarching theme of Ennis coming to terms with his identity. A name seems to be a very clear symbol of a person's identity. Somehow the issue of his name makes me think of Ennis's enigmatic statement in the alley when he has the dry heaves. Clarissa once, wisely, noted that Ennis's question "what are you looking at?" is multi-layered. What are we looking at when we look at Ennis? And, does Ennis himself even know.
belbbmfan:
I agree with the name being a symbol of someone's identity.
Maybe the fact that Ennis DID sign with his full name is an indication of an 'more established' identity. Maybe he was getting over his reluctance to use his full name. In the beginning he was just 'Ennis' and in the end he was 'Ennis Del Mar'. There is a big distinction.
blueremembered:
I find the issue of Ennis' name very interesting. It is surely significant that Proloux gives him an exotic double barrelled surname that refuses to sound American.
Jack encourages him to use his full name, and Jack himself uses it to others, as Brown eyes pointed out. Perhaps Ennis feels that his full name, like his 'full self', was encouraged and made real by Jack. I, certainly agree with Front-Ranger that he wasn't being at all formal but was doing the opposite.
Front-Ranger:
--- Quote from: belbbmfan on January 22, 2009, 05:18:26 pm ---Maybe the fact that Ennis DID sign with his full name is an indication of an 'more established' identity. Maybe he was getting over his reluctance to use his full name. In the beginning he was just 'Ennis' and in the end he was 'Ennis Del Mar'. There is a big distinction.
--- End quote ---
Quite true, fabienne. And we know he hungered after distinction, since he wanted to be a sophomore, but didn't ever get there, :( instead he got pitched directly into ranch work, which, according to Aguirre, was for "no-account" "deuces going nowhere."
Thanks for your contributions, blueremembered!!
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