Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Regarding the line "Alma´s mouth twitched"
Monika:
--- Quote from: mariez on May 17, 2009, 07:51:58 pm ---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.
--- End quote ---
It´s weird, I´ve never even thought about it that way but it does make a lot of sense. Don´t know why I´ve never read it like that. But I love the fact that Annie leaves so much up to ourselves to decide.
Have I mentioned how much I love this story!!?? :) ;)
Monika:
--- Quote from: Ellemeno on May 23, 2009, 04:52:11 am ---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)
--- End quote ---
Sometimes I get the impression that Alma doesn´t think that anyone who does what Ennis does (having sex with other men), has the capacity to feel real love. I don´t have much to back it up with though, but it´s something I´ve often thought about.
LauraGigs:
When I'm really furious, really embarrassed, really frustrated, or some combination thereof, my mouth twitches. An involuntary thing. I saw my best friend's mouth twitch when she was really mad, too.
But yeah... at that moment Alma can't find a way to articulate her confusion and rage, so all that comes out is a "twitch". Between that and the boys being caught up in their emotion and lust, all three are pretty much slaves to larger impulses.
And the lightning storm is starting up. Hmmmm....
ohiomyown:
This is an interesting question, with many differing ideas of what that twitch meant.
It's my belief that Alma was in shock, not rage. She had not processed what she had just seen. . . but
when Ennis said "two little girls. I love them to pieces." . . she heard loud and clear that he didn't
include her on that list.
She could have emptied a bowl of jello salad on her head and danced an Irish Jig - - those two guys
only had eyes for each other at that point. . . they were not even seeing her.
Brown Eyes:
Somehow I missed this interesting thread until now.
I love all the possible readings of what the twitch might mean. I tend to lean towards it being a sign of anger (fairly complex anger) and also, I lean towards her realizing that she is left out of the love Ennis feels for the kids.
The idea of the twitiching mouth so reminds me of Ennis himself. It makes me think of all the subtle ways that Heath depicted Ennis forcing a smile to form on his face, or Ennis twitiching in anger/frustration in his own ways throughout the narrative.
Twitching just seems to be such an Ennis thing (to me it implies a lot physical expression of repression... repression in a very broad sense). It's interesting to think about the word applied to Alma and what it means in her case.
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