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

Jack was maligned unfairly

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Front-Ranger:
Little by little Ennis let his guard down with Jack, and on the fateful nite of TS1, Jack opened the door and Ennis entered. The ensuing dead sheep of the movie was a foreboding sight for Ennis but didn't shake his resolve to go full throttle with Jack. In the story, there is no dead sheep. Let me repeat, there is no dead sheep the next morning. There are no bad consequences at all after TS1. Even when Aguirre came up on them being naughty, he waited patiently until they had buttoned up their jeans before he approached them. And another thing, he made a SECOND trip up the mountain to tell Jack that his Uncle hadn't died after all. And he still didn't say anything critical, about the switch in jobs, about the being naughty, or anything. He just gave Jack a "bold stare."

After TS1, Jack boldly went to Ennis on the mountain as his workday was ending. But it was Ennis who set forth the parameters of what they could and couldn't do, could and couldn't say. And Jack readily agreed (in the story Ennis said it during or right after sex, and it was almost a joke). The rest of the summer was Ennis's to own, as he came and went to and from the sheep and Jack, owning the mountain and all on it. Until the day of the hailstorm.
 

Front-Ranger:
The story shows the "tent not looking right" starting with the hailstorm in August. Ennis spent the whole nite with Jack, and the sheep wandered and got tangled up with a foreign herd (what Chilean sheep were doing on Brokeback Mountain, I have no idea). This led to disorientation in Ennis's mind and no amount of work to untangle the sheep could put it right. Thus, Ennis was on pins and needles when he came down from the mountain in mid-August and found Jack packing up. There Jack was, cheerfully tearing down the tent which was all the home Ennis had at that point. He overreacted, as Ennis often did, and even more when Jack playfully lassoed him and knocked him off his feet. The last straw (after Ennis chewed on it) was when Jack accidently kneed him in the nose, causing a nosebleed!! The whole summer unraveled right there on the hill, and Ennis lashed out at Jack. Ennis's primitive need for survival, his fight-or-flight instinct, took over and required him to assert control, physically and emotionally, over Jack. Ennis's last words to Jack were "Well see you around, huh." Around the coffeepot, looking for the handle? Instead he had flown off the handle. Jack's instinct was flight, not fight, and he ended up driving grooves across Texas trying to forget what could not be forgotten.

Front-Ranger:
If anyone has a different view on this, I would love to hear about it. In fact, I am somewhat distressed that I am seeing the story this way. What happened to Jack was not Ennis's fault, or anyone's for that matter. I guess it was just destiny. And I am not referring to Jack's death altho that certainly was a tragedy. What I am referring to is that both Jack and Ennis only had Brokeback Mountain in the end. That's all they had, and Jack never got to tell of his love for Ennis.

Front-Ranger:
Jack drove away from Ennis looking regretfully at him in his rear-view mirror, just as he had when he first met him. And he stayed away four long years. So, when he finally showed the initiative to make contact with Ennis again, Ennis once again seized control, just like he had in TS1. With wonderment and joy Jack opened his heart to Ennis again. But after a short period of bliss, Ennis began to dictate the parameters of the communication again. He failed to respond to Jack, instead saying, "Me, I don't know..." and then he came right out and said "It ain't gonna be like that" when Jack proposed the little cow-and-calf operation. The rules were that they could get together, once in a while, way the back in the middle of nowhere. And Jack agreed to them. I think Ennis was pleased that Jack was married, had a kid, was 14 hours away. The relationship was fine with Ennis. Ennis was in the process of withdrawing from those he knew so that he could more easily hide his true nature from the world. Alma saw this very clearly. Ennis withdrew sex, socializing, singing. He withdrew by drinking, working weekends, spending more time with his horses. He was no longer a conscientious dad, but was fine with dumping the kids on his wife even while she was still at work!!

Artiste:
Thanks Front-Ranger!

Your lines are very interesting!

I am puzzled by this you are saying: I think Ennis was pleased that Jack was married, had a kid, was 14 hours away. The relationship was fine with Ennis. Ennis was in the process of withdrawing from those he knew so that he could more easily hide his true nature from the world. Alma saw this very clearly. Ennis withdrew sex, socializing, singing. He withdrew by drinking, working weekends, spending more time with his horses. He was no longer a conscientious dad, but was fine with dumping the kids on his wife even while she was still at work!!



....

Front-Ranger, in many ways, am puzzled by much said in different lines here.

Hugs!!

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