Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

Regarding the line "Alma´s mouth twitched"

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Monika:
On the plane back to Sweden I reread BBM and I came to the line (during the reunion scene)
"Two little girls," Ennis said. "Alma Jr. and Francine. Love them to pieces." Alma's mouth twitched.


Does this mean that she thought he was talking BS or that she was pleased? I've always interpreted to mean that she didn't believe him, but when I read it tonight I realised that maybe that's not the way it should be interpreted?
Or is it ambiguous even for native English readers?

mariez:

--- Quote from: Buffymon on May 17, 2009, 07:22:38 pm ---
Does this mean that she thought he was talking BS or that she was pleased?
--- End quote ---

Oh, that is interestnig, b/c I never interpreted it as meaning either of those things.  I always thought the mouth twitch indicated that Ennis mentions he loves Alma and Francine to pieces  - but doesn't include Alma.  But now that you've brought up those other interpretations, you've made me think.  A twitch can indicate a smile of sorts, I guess - but I didn't get that feeling from the tone of this passage at all, especially considernig that Alma has just witnessed their embrace.  Does she think he's talking BS about loving the girls?  I don't know - I've never really considered that.  AP tells us that Ennis isn't big on endearments but he uses "little darlin" for his daughters, his horses - and Jack, which indicates to me that he is sincere in saying that he loves them to pieces.  A really interesting question.

Front-Ranger:
I also agree with you that Alma is reacting to Ennis' leaving her out of the love. Her emotions are contradictory to her true feelings, the same as when she says, "Sure enough" to mean "Yeah, right!" There is a deeper meaning though. Ennis' love did break the family into pieces.

Ellemeno:
I think it's definitely ambiguous, even to native English speakers.  I don't see anything in the story that would lead Alma to doubt Ennis's love for the girls (other than being unfaithful to their mother, of course), so I tend to interpret it as either disappointment that she is left off the list of who he loves to pieces, or maybe even happiness that he does love them to pieces.  One of my happiest things is when I see how much my husband and other loved ones adore my daughter.

The fact that her mouth twitches, but she doesn't say anything is also what Alma does.  There's an awful lot she never says in their marriage, including something as important as "Stop fucking me in the butt, I don't like it."  She doesn't speak up.

Katie77:
I have and still do interpret the "twitch" as a forced smile. I dont think it would have mattered what Ennis had said, she was trying to act like everything was normal, but she had really just had the shock of her life, and in normal circumstances, should would have smiled, at what Ennis said, but because of how she was feeling, she tried to force a smile but it turned into a "twitch".

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