Symbolism: Ennis and the mules

[serious crayons]

The idea of Jack as birds/angels sounds right to me. And I agree with Front-Ranger that Annie made the Jack-eagle association more explicit, but it would have been politically dicey to do so in a movie these days, so they chose not to play that up.

I beg to differ slightly on the idea of bear=relationship, though. I think bear=danger in the relationship, and perhaps the danger that lies ahead. When Ennis encounters the bear, it is standing in a stream, and we've noted elsewhere that water=relationship. So I think that the bear symbolizes either the actual dangers involved in a homosexual relationship (Earl's fate, Jack's fate), or Ennis' fears concerning those dangers. Either way, it is fear (the horse's) and/or the actual danger the bear poses that results in Ennis getting thrown and hurt.

[Front-Ranger]

Just to add to what U said about the bear, Katherine, do you remember late in the story when Jack and Ennis came upon a bear and it ran away with the "lumbering gait that made it look like it was falling apart"? Oh, now that I'm writing this I wonder if Proulx meant to allude that the danger Ennis thought they faced was just a facade, or that their relationship was falling apart. Hmmm... I think the first one. Your thoughts, anybody else?

[nic]

When Aguirre's trailer first appears, we hear the cry of an eagle, or at least a bird of prey. Later, we hear it again, echoing in the canyon. There is an eagle above the door of the Black and Blue Eagle Bar. After the reunion, Ennis lies spread-eagled. Other birds appear throughout the movie: the crow flying above the truck, the Thanksgiving turkey. In the story, when Ennis punches Jack, the "ministering angel" lies with wings folded. I'll look for other references, I'm sure there are some. But it wouldn't have worked for Jack to shoot an eagle and brag about it these days, so I surmise that's why it was omitted from the moive.

More birds: there is a bird either seen or heard or both when Ennis is in Jack's room at the Twist ranch. 

Interesting surmisings about the bear = relationship, I'd go with that.  Also Jack = all things to do with the air, sky, etc  I wonder if there is anything in the fireworks scene where this could be brought in.  Ennis is framed in that scene against the night sky with the fireworks going off from the viewpoint of low down on the ground.  It is a very striking image, especially in stills.  Maybe it could signify that Jack is about to explode back into his life. 

[Front-Ranger]

Well, there is a lot of blue in that scene, what with all the blue denim that Ennis is wearing and the red, white, and blue fireworks. If you buy the premise that red stands for the passion they have for each other and white for the death that will eventually part them, it becomes a very symbolic image. Also, the way Ennis is shot, with the camera down low makes him seem like a lonely and monumental figure against the sky, much like shots of the mountain and other iconic things such as the junked pickup truck in one of the first scenes.

[Brown Eyes]

Jack is more free to set himself above the rules on the earth: shoot a sheep

Well, I quite like the idea of Jack being associated with birds.  It certainly does fit with the wind idea and I like the way it links up with the description of Jack right after Ennis's punch-  "Ennis had suddenly swung from the deck and laid the ministering angel out in the wild columbine, wings folded."  The bird association also seems to go quite nicely with Jack's generally sweet personality.

But, I still tend to see Jack as more explicitly linked to sheep.  Get ready... here's my kooky sheep theory... I've posted this before, but now it's on my mind again. 

I don't think Jack was really free to shoot a sheep even though he had the urge to do so (which, yes, I agree was meant to be a demonstration of his willingness to break rules).  Within the "ethics" of the film, he can't really shoot a sheep, and Ennis is right to say that they're supposed to "guard the sheep not eat 'em".  I think this is because sheep- in the form of 'sacrificial lambs'- are equated with not only Jack but gay men in general in the film.  The only images of bloody and violent death that we see are the sheep that Ennis finds and the scenes we see in Ennis's head of Earl's murder and his deep suspicion that Jack was also murdered in a violent way.  (Yes, we see the elk die, but it's not bloodied or mutilated in the same way). And, both the sheep and the gay men were victims of "predator loss" since murderous homophobes really can be thought of as predators.  So the idea of being on guard against predators becomes very interesting.  The idea of protecting sheep is very, very important to Ennis.  And, I think he almost immediately develops an urge to take on the role of protector in regards to Jack.  My favorite visual indication of this comes early when they're taking the sheep up the mountain for the first time.  There's that wonderful shot of Jack sitting in the grass with a lamb lounging in his lap as he seems to be tending to its foot and Ennis is just sitting there smoking and looking out over the flock (which sort of includes Jack here).  I think there's a lot of anger inside Ennis at himself for not being there to protect Jack at the time of his death... whether he was murdered of died in the accident.  In the book it's pretty explicit that he's angry that no one was there to roll Jack over so that he wouldn't drown in his blood (and this anger probably also reflects back on himself). 

Another way that Jack is related to sheep, I think comes in the metaphor of the "black sheep."  This fits nicely with his black hat and whenever we do see him amongst a big group of sheep he does stand out due to the black hat.  My favorite shot of this is Jack's first night up alone with the sheep while he watches Ennis's fire way in the distance. The sheep seem quite bright in the moonlight, while from a distance Jack is cast in pretty dark silhouette. Jack really is quite the rebel and the non-conformist in many ways.

[alec716]

Amanda -- I love your self-described "kooky sheep theory" and the predator metaphor.  I had not thought much about this.  thanks for giving me something new about which to obsess next time I watch the film... 

[Brown Eyes]

Heya,
Thanks Alec.  So, I just finished my nightly dose of the first half of BBM and started thinking that Jack's woolly collar on his coat is rather sheep-like too.  Another interesting element of the sheep situation is, I think, that when Ennis discovers that dead sheep he realizes that he's now become a "sheep" too... and all of his fears (going back to the Earl memory, etc.) are really brought to life.  On my first viewing of BBM I initially thought that the dead sheep was sort of an over-determined symbol of "loss of innocence/ virginity."  I guess it's still that too, but I feel like there's a lot more to it than something so straight forward.

I'm afraid we've gone off the mule topic.  It is interesting that Ennis is always the one responsible for dealing with the mules when they move camp, etc.  When Jack and Ennis are moving about on the mountain (bringing the herd up initially, switching camps and bringing them down) Ennis always seems so much more burdened than Jack because of those mules.  Jack is always out in front while Ennis comes along behind eventually.  Cute.
 

[serious crayons]

On my first viewing of BBM I initially thought that the dead sheep was sort of an over-determined symbol of "loss of innocence/ virginity."  I guess it's still that too, but I feel like there's a lot more to it than something so straight forward.

That's exactly what I thought on MY first viewing. That is, I instantly knew the sheep meant something and, given the timing, assumed it was something about lost innocence. But you're right, I have come to believe that the dead sheep is much more a foreshadowing of murder. Given that, on first viewing, we didn't know about the other killings at that point in the movie, it makes sense we would react that way. And it's reinforced by the expression on Ennis' face, which looks like guilt -- he left the sheep alone, had sex with a man, and now look what happened. Though now I think his expression is more complicated than that.

But what I especially love about that symbol in retrospect is that it was a tipoff that there was more going on in the movie than meets the eye. That and Lureen's "husbands don't never want to dance with their wives" were just about the only nuances I picked up on that first time, but they at least opened my mind to the possibility that there were others.

If only I knew then that I'd eventually be analyzing the hidden meanings of fans and coffee pots and bears and snow ... and, oh yeah, mules!

[Penthesilea]

Heya,
Thanks Alec.  So, I just finished my nightly dose of the first half of BBM and started thinking that Jack's woolly collar on his coat is rather sheep-like too.  Another interesting element of the sheep situation is, I think, that when Ennis discovers that dead sheep he realizes that he's now become a "sheep" too... and all of his fears (going back to the Earl memory, etc.) are really brought to life.  On my first viewing of BBM I initially thought that the dead sheep was sort of an over-determined symbol of "loss of innocence/ virginity."  I guess it's still that too, but I feel like there's a lot more to it than something so straight forward.

I'm afraid we've gone off the mule topic.  It is interesting that Ennis is always the one responsible for dealing with the mules when they move camp, etc.  When Jack and Ennis are moving about on the mountain (bringing the herd up initially, switching camps and bringing them down) Ennis always seems so much more burdened than Jack because of those mules.  Jack is always out in front while Ennis comes along behind eventually.  Cute.
 

The mules:
Yeah, it's always Ennis shown to be responsible for dealing with the mules. Though after their job switch, Jack is dealing with the mules at least every Friday for food supply. But it's not shown to us.

Jack and the sheep/birds:

On my first viewing of BBM I initially thought that the dead sheep was sort of an over-determined symbol of "loss of innocence/ virginity." 

Yes, that's what I noticed too at my first viewing.

Your not-at-all-kooky theory about the sheep as a symbol for Jackis just as valid as the theory of Jack as a being with wings. Esp. the image of Jack as the "black sheep" is self-evident.

The only images of bloody and violent death that we see are the sheep that Ennis finds and the scenes we see in Ennis's head of Earl's murder and his deep suspicion that Jack was also murdered in a violent way.

This is a good point. And like Katherine, I see the dead sheep as a foreshadowing for Jack's cruel fate. Indepentent from the accident vs. murder debate, because either eventualities are a cruel way to die. "Drowned in his own blood" makes me cringe of horror and choke out of compassion for Jack.

Ennis being protective towards the sheep as well as towards Jack is another evidence for your theory.
Hey, I'm halfway argued into your Jack=sheep camp 

But the sheep image doesn't fit so good with Jack=wind as the bird image does. Though you have some very good points to which I can't disagree, my gut-feeling still says Jack=bird.

In the end, both may be right. It's often said, but worth repeating: this is another reason why we love this movie. In many aspects, Ang Lee doesn't force us to his interpretation of the story, but leaves enough open space to find our own.

I'm afraid we've gone off the mule topic.

Doesn't matter, does it? Maybe I should rename the thread "Ennis and the mules and other animal symbols" or something on this note.

[Ellemeno]

I don't have anything big to add to this great thread.  Just little bits:

I think that (spokenly or unspokenly) Ennis and Jack agreed that Jack simply didn't have the skill to handle the mules.  And my guess is that Ennis continued to go down on Fridays so that no one would know they had switched jobs between them.  After all Aguirre hadn't given them a choice - he had assigned the jobs.

I like the bear=danger standing in the water=relationship idea.

And the knots idea - Before they even go up the mountain, Jack recognizes Ennis's potential to "stand around tying knots all day."

I love this thread, and all the knots you wonderful people are tying in it!

Clarissa