This thread it a great idea! Much thought to be mined. OK, maybe I am not remembering some details, and maybe I am having an uncharacteristically naive day. Nonetheless, it seems to me that a possible lesson to be drawn here is: it was ultimately the dangers posed by the human species, not by nature, which kept our heros physically separated for all that time (including eternity, if one subscribes -- as I do -- to the theory that Jack was murdered). Some of their travails in nature brought them closer together: Jack's nurturing of Ennis after Ennis' fall from the horse thanks to the bear in the stream, the intensity of the time spent segregating out the storm-mingled sheep flocks, the simple beauty of campfire chats under glorious skies, the skinny-dipping dive, and, critically, the cold which drove Ennis into Jack's bedroll on their first fateful night of physical love. Nauture certainly handed them some challenges (such as by truncating that first summer with early snow), but it was human bigotry (and Ennis' internalization of it) which kept our boys from having that little cow and calf operation. People definitely tore asunder what nature brought together. Maybe I am wrong -- just my thoughts at the moment.