Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Would Ennis Commit Suicide?
Lumière:
Would Ennis Commit Suicide?
No, IMO.
I don't think he would've killed himself, that would be admitting defeat .. If he couldn't fix it, he would've stood it .. albeit miserably and unhappily without Jack and with the knowledge that he really was what he feared the most: queer.
dly64:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on August 02, 2006, 02:50:03 pm ---Do you suppose there would be some level, perhaps that even he couldn't get in touch with, where Ennis would be angry at Jack for "getting himself killed"? Does anyone know--am I remembering this correctly?--whether "anger" is considered one of the stages of grief?
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Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages of grief are: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance
I doubt that Ennis ever got to acceptance.
--- Quote from: Mikaela on August 02, 2006, 02:52:45 pm ---Ennis wouldn't regard the illness in a Conservative Christian light, he's hardly a fan of the fire-and-brimstone crowd's views. But I've wondered if he might still not, influenced by the IMO far-less-than-balanced news coverage back in the day, consciously or subconsciously use it as fuel for the fire of his own "hatred of being gay": Might he consider it some sort of confirmation that his sexual orientation is "wrong" and "dangerous" and so increase his self-hatred. If it did have that effect on him, it might have served to send him further into that self-destructive behaviour (mainly drinking) that has been discussed in this thread, and so have pushed him further towards the passive form of suicide.
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Interesting observation and one that has a lot of truth to it. I remember when AIDS was becoming wide-spread and it was seen as a “gay disease.” The “right-wingers” (as I call them) used the opportunity to lambaste the entire gay population by stating that it was “God’s way of punishing them (gays) for their behavior.” Bullocks!
As for Ennis – I do believe that would have fed into his own self-loathing.
--- Quote ---(I think I need a stiff drink myself after writing this. It's an interesting and worthwhile, but very depressing subject.)
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Whoops! Didn’t mean to depress y’all! :-\ But it is interesting and I appreciate your always well written and thoughtful responses.
--- Quote from: Marge_Innavera on August 02, 2006, 02:56:38 pm ---On the other hand, Ennis might be aware that he's denied himself the life he wanted with Jack all these years, and all for nothing. Sometimes that kind of experience tends to make people more reckless.
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True … and definitely more bitter.
Front-Ranger:
In Ennis's defense I don't think he became an alcoholic. If he had, he wouldn't have been taking an old half-drunk bottle of white wine out of his fridge to Toast Alma Jr's wedding announcement. And, we didn't see evidence of him smoking during that scene either.
dly64:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on August 02, 2006, 04:35:59 pm ---In Ennis's defense I don't think he became an alcoholic. If he had, he wouldn't have been taking an old half-drunk bottle of white wine out of his fridge to Toast Alma Jr's wedding announcement. And, we didn't see evidence of him smoking during that scene either.
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Actually, Ennis is smoking right before Alma, Jr. gets out of the car. And I wouldn't say that wine is his forte. He is beer and whiskey drinker. Ennis is definitely a heavy smoker and drinker. Whether that constitutes addiction ... that's a matter of debate.
moremojo:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on August 02, 2006, 04:35:59 pm ---In Ennis's defense I don't think he became an alcoholic. If he had, he wouldn't have been taking an old half-drunk bottle of white wine out of his fridge to Toast Alma Jr's wedding announcement. And, we didn't see evidence of him smoking during that scene either.
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I see Ennis's choice of wine here as befitting the occasion--he knows that this is a special moment that calls for something more refined, from a traditional point of view, than beer, whiskey (the two beverages one imagines him consuming the most), or even the coffee or hot tea that Ennis earlier offered his daughter. It was old, cheap wine, to be sure, but it was the best he had on hand.
And as self-destructive as excessive alcohol consumption and smoking (note Ennis's stubby cigarette as Alma Jr. drives up to the trailer) are, I feel I can hardly begrudge these little pleasures that our hardened, lonely ranch hand allows himself.
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