and they packed in the game and moved off the mountain with the sheep, stones rolling at their heels, purple cloud crowding in from the west and the metal smell of coming snow pressing them on. The mountain boiled with demonic energy, glazed with flickering broken-cloud light, the wind combed the grass and drew from the damaged krummholz and slit rock a bestial drone
Thanks so much for getting us to focus on this delightful subject!Yes,it can have a similarity with the subject of the colours in both men´s clothes; symbolising the Earth and the Air,the character rooted in his land and the character volatile,changeable,adaptable.
My feeling is that Annie wanted to make comparisons and show similarities between the landscapes and the characters. For instance, in the passage you cited:
see how she talks about the sheep and then mentions the clouds crowding in...you get an image of the clouds mirroring the sheep. The mountain is pictured similarly to the authoritarian masculine characters of Old Man Twist, Aguirre, or Ennis' dad. The wind is anthropomorphized as a kind of shepherd of the earth, combing the grass and eliciting beastly moans.
Annie Proulx has mentioned how she has studied artists and one of them, Charles Russell, often painted a scene of men, horses, and livestock in their earthly struggles mirrored by the sky and clouds above. Ang Lee also took his cue from AP, and included scenery throughout the movie such as a shot of two clouds at sunset, one dark blue and one orange. Obviously they are meant to stand for Jack and Ennis.
Dawn came glassy orange, stained from below by a gelatinous band of pale green. The sooty bulk of the mountain paled slowly until it was the same color as the smoke from Enniss's breakfast fire. The cold air sweetened, banded pebbles and crumbs of soil cast sudden pencil-long shadows and the rearing lodgepole pines below them massed in slabs of somber malachite.“
my fav quotation from the ss.
Ennis and Jack, the dogs, horses and mules, a thousand ewes and their lambs flowed up the trail like dirt water through the timber and out above the tree line into the great flowery meadows and the coursing, endless wind."I am rendered breathless every time I imagine them climbing that slope.
During the day Ennis looked across a great gulf and sometimes saw Jack, a small dot moving across a high meadow as an insect moves across a table cloth. Jack, in his dark camp, saw Ennis as night fire, a red spark on the huge black mass of mountainJack as Meadow Dot, Ennis as Night Fire. Incredible. ( but she does throw one little "burr" into this description. It just occurred to me recently. What would you do to an insect you saw crawling across a tablecloth, huh?)
It was just the two of them alone on the mountain, flying innthe euphoric bitter air, looking down on the hawk's back and the crawling lights of the vehicle on the plain below. Suspended above ordinary affairs and distant from tame ranch dogs barking in the dark hours
"It was just the two of them alone on the mountain, flying in the euphoric bitter air, looking down on the hawk's back and the crawling lights of the vehicle on the plain below. Suspended above ordinary affairs and distant from tame ranch dogs barking in the dark"
Their Arcadia was both beautiful and doomed, as they really weren't alone after all. But, the vision of an Arcadia where they, or someone like them under their circumstances can be happy, is so very moving. Perhaps I think of the "natural" descriptions of their Arcadia on the mountain as being so appealing because it is painted on a canvas that is not so pretty, the real world of the small economically depressed towns and its harsh judgements of them.
And, a doomed beauty is often the most moving type of beauty, as it is fragile and transitory.
"It was just the two of them alone on the mountain, flying in the euphoric bitter air, looking down on the hawk's back and the crawling lights of the vehicle on the plain below. Suspended above ordinary affairs and distant from tame ranch dogs barking in the dark"
Their Arcadia was both beautiful and doomed, as they really weren't alone after all. But, the vision of an Arcadia where they, or someone like them under their circumstances can be happy, is so very moving. Perhaps I think of the "natural" descriptions of their Arcadia on the mountain as being so appealing because it is painted on a canvas that is not so pretty, the real world of the small economically depressed towns and its harsh judgements of them.
And, a doomed beauty is often the most moving type of beauty, as it is fragile and transitory.
„ ...and they packed in the game and moved off the mountain with the sheep, stones rolling at their heels, purple cloud crowding in from the west and the metal smell of coming snow pressing them on. The mountain boiled with demonic energy, glazed with flickering broken-cloud light, the wind combed the grass and drew from the damaged krummholz and slit rock a bestial drone.“
(coming down the mountain)
She herself said in interviews, that in a short story every single word has to be right, has to carry meaning, that even the punctuation is important.
If you have read Close Range, the collection of Short stories in which BBM appears, you will realize this is unique. AP's characters are crushed and contorted by the harsh economic, social and physical environment in which they try to survive. but in BBM she lets nature ease up just a bit to allow the tender and fragile love of these two boys to flourish.
she does throw one little "burr" into this description. It just occurred to me recently. What would you do to an insect you saw crawling across a tablecloth, huh?)Ouch, another premonition couched in an aside or joke! :-\ Very insightful, friend VS!
Ouch, another premonition couched in an aside or joke! :-\ Very insightful, friend VS!
AP is truly a genius.
Contrast Jack's view of Ennis. "night fire." "a red spark on the huge black mass of mountain." No ambiguity there, huh? Ennis is Jack's true love and only joy in a dark and forboding world.
One part I haven't made much sense of yet is the listing of all the mountain ranges they went to over the years. Of course it's striking that they were all over the place - but never returned to Brokeback. The garden Eden metaphor we discussed several times before. Once you're thrown out, you can never return. Hey, even the movie trailer says so "There are places we can't return".
But to make this point, it would have been enough if Proulx had listed three or four mountain ranges, adding .."and many others" (something along that lines). But she doesn't. Instead she lists no less than seventeen (!*) different mountain ranges.
Any thoughts on this?
But to make this point, it would have been enough if Proulx had listed three or four mountain ranges, adding .."and many others" (something along that lines). But she doesn't. Instead she lists no less than seventeen (!*) different mountain ranges.
Any thoughts on this?
*There's that number again; we discussed the 17 before, but mostly movie related. Could it be another example of the Lee/Proulx/Ossana/Murtry synergy?
Sorry, I think I've missed something. What's the significance of 17?
Ang is trying to tell everybody not to forget my birthday, LOL!!D'OH!! It's my birthday today -- and I was really busy at work, forgot all about it til I read this! And Im supposed to be going out. Thanks Front Ranger!r
Sorry, I think I've missed something. What's the significance of 17?
also Ennis puts the number "17" on his mail box outside his little trailer house.
the number "17" is made up of two digits : the number one and the number seven, if you add 1+ 7 together, they equal "8".
why is the number "8" important? It was important to Jack, and Ennis had to remember this. Jack wanted to be successful at rodeo, and in order to have a successful ride on a bull you must stay on the bull for 8 seconds. The usage of the term "8 seconds" is very important cowboy lore and country and western music. It is metaphorical for success and achievement. When Ennis puts the "17" on his mail box, he then steps back and looks at it. I think that he saw the composite as adding up to 8 and was amused.
for what its worth :)
That is fascinting I never knew that.Ennis does stand back and look at the numbers.I always figured there had to be some significance after all sticking numbers on a mailbox is harly a work of art.Now maybe you ave come up with a reason why.I just love the Jack and rodeo idea.
D'OH!! It's my birthday today -- and I was really busy at work, forgot all about it til I read this! And Im supposed to be going out. Thanks Front Ranger!r
When you are so busy at work you forget it's your birthday, then you are too busy. Either that, or you have a fascinating job!
Good points about the Number Eight, oilgun. Eight is also very important (and means prosperity) in Asian cultures, like the Chinese/Taiwanese culture of Ang Lee.