"Jack, I swear..." What do you think Ennis meant by that?

[ifyoucantfixit]

I think when Ennis says Jack, I swear he is expressing his regrets for not allowing himself to be more open and to spend more quality time with Jack when he was alive. What I noticed at that scene, when Ennis is looking at the shirts, was a huge sense of loss in his face, not just because Jack was no longer around but because Ennis had little to remember him for. As Jack said, they spent a few times together in 20 years, and 20 years is a whole life. All Ennis had from the person he loved the most were the shirts and an old postcard of Brokeback Mountain. The real mountain, the real thing, as we can see through the little window at Ennis' trailer, was no longer there, but not because Jack had died but because Ennis himself had killed it. He killed it by spending those 20 years living in fear, keeping Jack away and breaking his heart over and over again.

jack i swear, i didnt know what to do...i think he was sad he couldnt do different than what he did...he recognized his own failure, and the pain they both suffered...because of it.

[Rayn]

I just watched the movie for the 7th time since Feb 2006 when I first saw it and it still had a huge impact on me... and the "Jack, I swear..." seemed this time to also mean...

"Jack, I swear I didn't clearly know how much you cared for me, but since I found my old shirt with yours, I know, and Jack, the pain of knowin' is as deep as your love was for me.... I swear Jack, I loved you too and always will."

[Rayn]

.... In fact, i find that people who are more outwardly expressive tend to be less inner-thinking and analytical about their feelings.... In my experience, the non-verbal communicators are often people who know themselves best.

Well, it's a kind of "notion" your expressing here, HerrKaiser, that people who talk a lot aren't as inward or reflective as people who don't, but isn't that a generalization? 

There are plenty of people who are "inner-thinking" i.e. reflective who also talk a lot; just as there are people who are quiet and appear very inward, but are actually just less eloquent than their "talker" buddies and not very reflective at all. 

And of course there are the shallow blabbermouths and the empty-headed silent types too, but even bringing them into consideration doesn't make a big enough picture for all of humanity.

I do however, agree with you about Ennis,  I just don't think the idea of the "silent reflective type" and the "shallow talker type" hold up very well when considering the diversity of human minds and characters in real life. 

That is what makes us so surprising.  Men and Women are always "breaking the molds and stereotypes" that others think up because in reality such molds are just concepts that take in only a small part of the big picture.  Simply put, they just aren't always true.

I'm glad to see the discussion pick up on this thread!   It's a good sign and I hope there's more to come.

Rayn

[fernly]

The "I swear..." to me is Ennis swearing to never lose the moment or the man. I believe Ennis is placing time on hold for the rest of his life.

I agree. I think the fact that the prologue is in the present tense, in contrast to the past tense of the rest of the story (except for the very last sentence) underlines the probability that Ennis is not going to move on to another lover, that he is existing in a 'timeless', ever 'present' state, emotionally. Physically aging, physically moving to his daughter's and then another ranch, but his emotions and inner life always with Jack, even when the wind dies for a moment, leaving a "temporary silence."

That last sentence in the story - "If you can't fix it, you've got to stand it" (that's a vow, isn't it) takes Ennis and us back to the prologue's present (and unchanging future) tense.

[Rayn]

I agree. I think the fact that the prologue is in the present tense, in contrast to the past tense of the rest of the story (except for the very last sentence) underlines the probability that Ennis is not going to move on to another lover, that he is existing in a 'timeless', ever 'present' state, emotionally. Physically aging, physically moving to his daughter's and then another ranch, but his emotions and inner life always with Jack, even when the wind dies for a moment, leaving a "temporary silence."

That last sentence in the story - "If you can't fix it, you've got to stand it" (that's a vow, isn't it) takes Ennis and us back to the prologue's present (and unchanging future) tense.

I see the reasoning behind this, but still like to think/believe Ennis may meet someone in his future too.
"If you can't fix it, you've got to stand it"...  I see him as understanding that "you can fix, sometimes too".  That statement includes both possibilities, can't and can.   Anyway, fiction is that way, we all make of it what we like beyond the actually ending.

Nice to hear from ya fernly! 

Cheers,
Rayn

[HerrKaiser]

but still like to think/believe Ennis may meet someone in his future too.

Oh to be the lucky one...

[Brown Eyes]

Bumping more essential BBM topics of discussion...

[Rayn]

Bumping more essential BBM topics of discussion...

Hey atz75.... What does that mean? 

Rayn

[Rayn]

jack i swear, i didnt know what to do...i think he was sad he couldnt do different than what he did...he recognized his own failure, and the pain they both suffered...because of it.

Yeah, the worse pain is the pain of waking up too late to a situation you were not aware of, for whatever reason, then finding out the truth and seeing it clearly and it's painful because there's often no way to change it even though you would if you could... 

....it s a gnawing gut level pain that lingers for a long while. 

I really think Ennis was never fully aware of how much Jack cared for him, how deeply Jack's feelings ran....   
Ennis had too much going on maybe, or like some men, just didn't "get it" until it was too late to do anything about it.

Rayn

[Ladyeve]

I really think Ennis was never fully aware of how much Jack cared for him, how deeply Jack's feelings ran....  
Ennis had too much going on maybe, or like some men, just didn't "get it" until it was too late to do anything about it.

Rayn

It was the closest Ennis could come in making any kind of declaration of his love for Jack.