Ennis and the Earth

[TJ]

OT, here in a way; but, I have known several people whose surname was "Ennis," And they all live in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And while there are no "Del Mar" folks in the Tulsa Metro Area Phonebook, there are several people with the surname of "Delmar." I am not sure that I know any of them; but, I have know a couple of Delmars with different surnames.

[ednbarby]

"The next week Joe Aguirre sent word to bring them down - another, bigger storm was moving in from the Pacific- 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 on them.  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. As they descended the slope Ennis felt he was in a slow-motion, but headlong, irreversible fall."

Wow.

Wow is right.  I love this especially:  The mountain (Ennis) boiled with demonic energy, glazed with flickering broken-cloud light, the wind (Jack) combed the grass and drew from the damaged krummholz and slit rock a bestial drone.  I love the idea of Jack drawing from Ennis - of drawing him out - of coaxing out that scared, unloved but so incredibly loving child deep inside of him to him and the world.  Damaged and slit - that is Ennis, and it's both of them, too.

[Brown Eyes]

Heya ednbarby,
I just love the way Proulx describes things throughout the story.  I think it's her peculiar turns-of-phrase and amazing ability to make description *exciting* is one of my favorite things about the story version of BBM.  And, I do think a lot of the nature metaphors are a lot more dramatic (hit you over the head more) in the story.  I much appreciate Lee's very subtle translations of these metaphors.  I guess I see Proulx's nature as much more drama-filled while Lee's nature is more wistful.

Hi JudeW, the question of Ennis's name is really interesting in relation to the water idea.  But, here's how I see it... As far as I understand Ennis Del Mar can be translated as "Island of the Sea" of "Island in the Sea", which I see as a little bit of "earth" isolated in the middle of water, or surrounded by water.  So, Ennis can still be seen as earth.  If the water is either Jack (some people see him this way... "Water walking Jesus," etc.) or the element of time (here and there people have suggested that rushing water in the creeks and rivers in the movie symbolizes the flow of time and the "never enough time" problem) then Ennis is consumed by either Jack and/or time and the circumstances of their relationship.   In any case the idea of an island clearly fits well with Ennis's loner personailty and sense of isolation from conventional society.

[j.U.d.E.]

Hi JudeW, the question of Ennis's name is really interesting in relation to the water idea.  But, here's how I see it... As far as I understand Ennis Del Mar can be translated as "Island of the Sea" of "Island in the Sea", which I see as a little bit of "earth" isolated in the middle of water, or surrounded by water.  So, Ennis can still be seen as earth.  If the water is either Jack (some people see him this way... "Water walking Jesus," etc.) or the element of time (here and there people have suggested that rushing water in the creeks and rivers in the movie symbolizes the flow of time and the "never enough time" problem) then Ennis is consumed by either Jack and/or time and the circumstances of their relationship.   In any case the idea of an island clearly fits well with Ennis's loner personailty and sense of isolation from conventional society.

OH HOW I LOVE THIS!! Perfect! Yes, Ennis as the water-surrounded-island... *dream*

Each day I think, soon I will be over BBM, but no way! With minute, detailed imagery and interpretations of almost each small scene, I can't quit! LOVE IT!

~ j U d E

[TJ]

While us over-educated folks in this forum can use examples from what we learned from College/University humanities  and/or literature classes in describing people and possible themes in the movie and even what we have studied in various religion traditions, we do have to be careful when reading our ideas and experiences into Annie Proulx's short story an/or Ang Lee's movie adaptation of the story.

If Annie Proulx said she chose certain names of her characters (or even location names) for a particular purpose, then we should accept that.

But, when we delve into writings of various religions and/or mythologies and try to make them apply to the movie's final "script," we are using a literary device called "eisegesis." "Eixegesis" refers to impose one's own world view into a story or piece of literature without considering the world view of the original author. To approach a piece of literature without any preconceived ideas and attempt to understand the author's POV based on his or her world view, is using "exegesis."

[Brown Eyes]

Since Jack and the Wind seems to have come back to life a bit... I thought I'd give Ennis a bump.  I like it when our boys are near each other.

[starboardlight]

Thanx for bumping this Amanda. It's funny to read TJ's comment. It must have really bugged him to no ends, how we read into the story. The thing is, the elemental association is so fitting that I just don't think it's an accident. It's not so clear in Proulx's writing, but it's very apparent in Lee's film. At this point, it's the movie that defines Ennis and particularly Jack for me. So I kinda disregard what Proulx may say about her intention. She gave up that when she sold the rights to the stories to the film makers. What ever he intentions, Lee, Osana, McMurtry, Jake and Heath have as much in put into bringing the two characters to life. They brought their own intentions that may or may not conflict with Proulx's, and that's okay to try and reconcile them, and even choose to ignore or accept the contradictions. We do live in a post modern world where the artist is dead. What ever the artist may intend, it's what his audience understands that matters. A great artist can merge the gap between creator's intention and audience's perception, but in some case the latter has over shadowed the former's intent.

[wolf]

Thanx for bumping this Amanda. It's funny to read TJ's comment. It must have really bugged him to no ends, how we read into the story. The thing is, the elemental association is so fitting that I just don't think it's an accident. It's not so clear in Proulx's writing, but it's very apparent in Lee's film. At this point, it's the movie that defines Ennis and particularly Jack for me. So I kinda disregard what Proulx may say about her intention. She gave up that when she sold the rights to the stories to the film makers. What ever he intentions, Lee, Osana, McMurtry, Jake and Heath have as much in put into bringing the two characters to life. They brought their own intentions that may or may not conflict with Proulx's, and that's okay to try and reconcile them, and even choose to ignore or accept the contradictions. We do live in a post modern world where the artist is dead. What ever the artist may intend, it's what his audience understands that matters. A great artist can merge the gap between creator's intention and audience's perception, but in some case the latter has over shadowed the former's intent.

three cheers for this very pertinent post!  Couldn't agree more that Lee's decidedly oriental approach to film tends to overwhelm (beautifully, IMHO) the decidely occidental Ms Proulx.  Elemental themes would be the most obvious and sumptuous of his many gorgeous touches.  Earth, Wind & Fire indeed!

as for my bolding, above.  seemed a good opportunity to insert the caveat that you never know who you're talking too in forums such as these  .

w

[Front-Ranger]

I would like to point out that when Jack comes back to camp after tending the sheep, he eats "two of Ennis's stone biscuits." 

[Brown Eyes]

Wow!  That's quite a good bookend indeed!  Good catch.