Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Jack and Alma
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: ednbarby on April 28, 2006, 03:04:31 pm ---
--- Quote from: atz75 on April 27, 2006, 08:47:50 pm ---Well, an insult to Jack is an insult to Ennis... If nothing else, it reflects back on his own taste, selection of a lover, etc. And, the word "nasty" can be heard in a pretty homophobic way too.
--- End quote ---
Good points. And I hear "nasty" as being said with a good deal of homophobia, myself.
--- End quote ---
Agreed, and I don't think you have to strain to hear it. Alma's whole speech seems implicitly homophobic. She's not just accusing Ennis of being unfaithful. If she thought he was with another woman, her tone would have been less spiteful.
TJ:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on April 28, 2006, 03:37:49 pm ---
--- Quote from: ednbarby on April 28, 2006, 03:04:31 pm ---
--- Quote from: atz75 on April 27, 2006, 08:47:50 pm ---Well, an insult to Jack is an insult to Ennis... If nothing else, it reflects back on his own taste, selection of a lover, etc. And, the word "nasty" can be heard in a pretty homophobic way too.
--- End quote ---
Good points. And I hear "nasty" as being said with a good deal of homophobia, myself.
--- End quote ---
Agreed, and I don't think you have to strain to hear it. Alma's whole speech seems implicitly homophobic. She's not just accusing Ennis of being unfaithful. If she thought he was with another woman, her tone would have been less spiteful.
--- End quote ---
I see Alma's point of view about Ennis's relationship with Jack a little differently than many folks. And, I prefer to let Annie Proulx's words influence my thinking here. I somehow feel that Alma was naive when it come to men having sexual relationships.
Back in 1967, when Ennis was kissing Jack on the upstairs landing and Alma opened the door slightly, all she was was Ennis's straining shoulders when they were hugging. They were too close to the door for her to see them kissing. When she open the door the second time, they were standing side by side. Jack's seeing Alma made him VERY nervous so much that he shook.
I also think that she could have believed the reason that they did not come home that night was that they picked up some gals at a Riverton bar and took them somewhere to have sex with them. That was not uncommon back in 1967 for good buddy and/or cowboy types who went to bars to do that thing and such stuff still goes on in more recent years.
Ennis had those feelings that everyone who looked at him after his experiences with Jack up on Brokeback Mountain in 1963 that everyone just knew he had sex with guys and wanted to have sex with them, too.
When Alma said, "Jack Twist, Jack Nasty," I just believe that she was accusing Ennis and Jack committing adultery with women.
In the book, the only time that Alma even sees Jack is when he shows up late in the afternoon in Riverton on June 24, 1967. She does not even see him again, not even the next day.
So, I don't even think that Alma is being homophobic in the after the divorce Thanksgiving incident. I just say that Ennis jumped to conclusions about what Alma meant in the first place. (I also say that Ennis jumped to conclusions when Jack mentioned going to Mexico as a warmer meeting place 16 years later at the last time the guys were together. Jack had NEVER been there in the first place.)
Oh, when Ennis leaves Alma's place in Riverton in the story, he goes to the Black and Blue Eagle bar and gets into a fight AFTER he gets drunk.
starboardlight:
--- Quote from: TJ on April 29, 2006, 09:27:24 pm ---Oh, when Ennis leaves Alma's place in Riverton in the story, he goes to the Black and Blue Eagle bar and gets into a fight AFTER he gets drunk.
--- End quote ---
ironically, Black and Blue is a very gay bar phrase meaning leather and jeans scene.
TJ:
--- Quote from: starboardlight on April 30, 2006, 03:59:42 pm ---
--- Quote from: TJ on April 29, 2006, 09:27:24 pm ---Oh, when Ennis leaves Alma's place in Riverton in the story, he goes to the Black and Blue Eagle bar and gets into a fight AFTER he gets drunk.
--- End quote ---
ironically, Black and Blue is a very gay bar phrase meaning leather and jeans scene.
--- End quote ---
And, "black and blue" is how a person, no matter what his sexual orientation, looks AFTER he has been beaten up or had some kind of injury. I don't think that Annie Proux was thinking of a gay bar in the story.
Rayn:
--- Quote from: starboardlight on April 27, 2006, 12:49:29 pm ---
--- Quote from: Rayn on April 27, 2006, 04:37:51 am ---You know in the book, Jack was not looking at Alma with any competitiveness; he was really scared when they met, so scared his legs were shaking, but I think he knew Ennis was "his man" too.
--- End quote ---
hm, that not how I read that part in the book. My interpretation was that Jack was shaking because he was so excited to about that kiss. I didn't read anything about being scared to meet Alma.
--- End quote ---
OK, I went back and read that part of the story, and found I was mistaken. It's not only Jack's legs that are shaking, it's his entire body. In fact it says,
"You got a kid?" said Jack. His shaking hand grazed Ennis's hand, electrical current snapped between them. "Two little girls." Ennis said. "Alma Jr. and Francine. Love them to pieces." Alma's mouth twitched. "I got a boy," said Jack. "Eight months old. Tell you what, I married a cute little old Texas girl down in Childress-- Lureen." From the vibration of the floorboard on which they both stood Ennis could feel how hard Jack was shaking. "Alma," he said. "Jack and me is goin out and get a drink. Might not get back tonight, we get drinkin and talkin." "Sure enough." Alma said, taking a dollar bill from her pocket. Ennis guessed she was going to ask him to get her a pack of cigarettes, bring him back sooner. "Please to meet you," said Jack, trembling like a run-out horse."
Now a run-out horse isn't a "positive" thing. Worn-out and trembling from fatique isn't a good feeling. And I don't see how a person's body shaking from head to boot can be a good thing. I believe that's why Ennis notices this and gets them out of there quickly. I will admit that it's possible that with the fear of meeting Alma, Jack is also feeling the excitement and urgency of meeting Ennis again; I'll go that far, but there clearly is a great deal of nervous fear in Jack as well.
If you wanted read it for yourself, it's on page 266 in "Close Range", Annie's collection of short stories.
Rayn
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