fffffffzzzzzzzzzzzzzap! (lightning and electricity references)

[nakymaton]

I want to add a "me too!" to Meryl's comments on Mikaela's observations about the last camping scene.

And in the very same paragraph the batteries on the transistor radio die. Hence, electricity, both in its wild untamed and domesticated versions, are absent from the scene.

Yeah. I would almost put on my "practical Mel" hat and point out that, although snowstorms are common in the mountains in May, they rarely are accompanied by lightning. (Thunderstorms are a kind of late summer/early fall phenomenon -- an everyday occurrence in July and August, but not in spring.) But the dying batteries -- and Jack, in particular, fiddling with the radio -- really suggest that the darkening of the electricity is part of the extended metaphor, as well.

The reappearance of electricity in the flashback ("humming like faint electricity"? I don't have the story with me) points out the contrast, as well.

And in the movie, the transition to the flashback starts with a shot of the glowing coals. Fire still burning... and then we seen the dozy embrace. So fire is there visually in the movie, as well.

**

Another movie observation. What part of Jack's truck does Ennis fix, before the goodbye scene at the end of the summer? Starter, sparkplugs? Doesn't the car need a spark to start? So Jack needs Ennis to help provide the spark to start the truck... but it's tame electricity, and they keep it under control, and say goodbye without touching again?

[Penthesilea]

The reappearance of electricity in the flashback ("humming like faint electricity"? I don't have the story with me) points out the contrast, as well.

You were very close. It reads: ...and Jack leaned against the steady heartbeat, the vibrations of the humming like faint electicity,

I like this comparison. (Hearing and) feeling a humming is very similar to faint electric 'humming', like a fridge, for example. You know what I mean? Fridges sometimes hum. And sometimes you can feel and hear it near power lines. A very fitting picture.

Another movie observation. What part of Jack's truck does Ennis fix, before the goodbye scene at the end of the summer? Starter, sparkplugs? Doesn't the car need a spark to start? So Jack needs Ennis to help provide the spark to start the truck... but it's tame electricity, and they keep it under control, and say goodbye without touching again?

In the movie we can't see what Ennis is fiddling with, but the screenplay says it's the carburetor. Cars need a spark not only to start, but also to run. It comes from the ignition pulgs (spark plugs). The spark from the spark plugs causes a little "explosion" of the fuel/oxygen mixture.  This process pushes down the pistons. The carburetor rules the amount of fuel which is injected.


Another reference to electricity: Francine is a little live wire.

[Mikaela]

From Mel
I would almost put on my "practical Mel" hat and point out that, although snowstorms are common in the mountains in May, they rarely are accompanied by lightning. (Thunderstorms are a kind of late summer/early fall phenomenon -- an everyday occurrence in July and August, but not in spring.)

Sure enough. But the realism doesn't preclude the symbolism or hinted-at meaning..... I guess the short story is full of similar instances.

There's a similarity in the description of the weather that seems less than coincidental (though no doubt realistic): At the reunion, "by noon the clouds had pushed up out of the west rolling a little sultry air before them", followed by the thunderstorm. While just before J&E's last night together, "there were the clouds Ennis had expected, a grey racer out of the west, a bar of darkness driving wind before it and small flakes". But no thunderstorm then, just the "friggin' cold" and wet spring snow.

Considering and comparing the weather description for those two events, it seems as if they're indicating that Ennis subconsciously (?)  is entirely aware Jack is losing the spark during their last meeting, and is anxiously waiting for it to reemerge from the embers. Ennis's looking out for the clouds, expecting the clouds and what they bring, becomes less about him worrying over the future, more about him looking and longing for the Jack of their previous time together, anticipating Jack's proximity to bring back the storm of feelings, the lightning from the reunion. When the clouds eventually do come (and with them, Jack's signature wind  ), and the "brilliant charge" is verified to still be there, is when the batteries die between Jack's hands. And though the clouds has brought wind, there's no lightning, only the "friggin' cold". Jack is losing the spark. I'd say there's some food here for the "quit" side of the eternal "Quit/no quit" debate.


I love how both those two weather descriptions bring the air and the wind into play: "rolling a little sultry air before them"  and  "a bar of darkness driving wind before it". Definitely food for the "Jack and the wind" discussion thread as well! 

[nakymaton]

Sure enough. But the realism doesn't preclude the symbolism or hinted-at meaning..... I guess the short story is full of similar instances.

I think the time of year may have been chosen, in part, for the weather it would imply, and the symbolism inherent in the weather descriptions. May = cold + threat of snow + lack of lightning sparks -- all symbolic of threats to the relationship. (After all, it was snow that drove them down from the mountain the first time. Snow's a bad omen in both the story and the movie.)

Edit: Also, about the quit/no quit debate... I think if we're talking about the imagery in the story, we have to keep in mind that the story reveals information from Ennis's point of view. It isn't told as flashbacks, exactly, but the details of the relationship are revealed out of sequence in many cases. So the foreboding imagery may say more about how Ennis remembers that last camping trip than about Jack's state of mind at the time. Is the charge of their coupling darkened by the sense of "never enough time" because the spark of their relationship was about to go out, or because Ennis is looking back and feeling the loss of all that time?

[nakymaton]

Hey all --

kallyn, who just joined after seeing BBM on HBO (yay!), asked about the significance of the single functioning headlight on Ennis's truck after the "Jack Nasty" Thanksgiving scene. I said something vague about electricity and sparks, but really, I have no clue. Anybody else got any suggestions?

[Meryl]

Hey all --

kallyn, who just joined after seeing BBM on HBO (yay!), asked about the significance of the single functioning headlight on Ennis's truck after the "Jack Nasty" Thanksgiving scene. I said something vague about electricity and sparks, but really, I have no clue. Anybody else got any suggestions?

Good question.  On the surface, I'd say it's meant to show Ennis's poverty--he hasn't got the money to get the headlight repaired and so makes do with one.  After the abundance seen at Monroe's, it's an effective contrast.

Symbolically, possibly it shows a man who is alone.  His other half, whether it be Alma or Jack, is not in his day-to-day life.

Or maybe it symbolizes his being half-blind with rage, thus prefiguring the fight with the truck driver.

[kallyn]

Woo, I come over here to post and find that suspiciously my ears are burning.     Anyway, howdy all.    I noticed that broken headlight today like it was a freakin' banner and I thought that it had to mean something.  The idea that Ennis is poor is good, but we already know from other things that Ennis is poor so that would seem like a somewhat redundant point.

I think my favorite idea so far is that one light is out because he is incomplete without Jack.

[Lynne]

Woo, I come over here to post and find that suspiciously my ears are burning.     Anyway, howdy all.    I noticed that broken headlight today like it was a freakin' banner and I thought that it had to mean something.  The idea that Ennis is poor is good, but we already know from other things that Ennis is poor so that would seem like a somewhat redundant point.

I think my favorite idea so far is that one light is out because he is incomplete without Jack.

Welcome to BetterMost, kallyn! And thank you very much for posting.

I noticed the headlight on a fairly late viewing - the earlier ones were for me trying to figure out what had acually just happened to me !  My interpretation of the busted headlamp is very similar to others offered here:

On one level, the broken headlight is an indication of Ennis' poverty and long work schedule.  He was paying child support; he was not able to keep is truck in good (even safe?) repair, because both money and time were short.

I completely agree that Ennis is incomplete without Jack - their two halves make a whole.  We can quote many lines from the short story as evidence.  That night, though, Ennis is not 'firing on all cylinders' -- I know, mixing metaphors -- he lets upset/anger/fear overcome his steely self-control, and he vents all that on the hapless guy on the street who drives by and honks, justifiably.

Another thought comes to mind, though...I think we talk about being drunk or angry as half-blind - referring to the eyes.  Ennis was a drinker and was headed for the bar after the confrontration w/Alma probably to get half drunk b/c he was half-blind with rage - with only one headlight.

I tend to think that Alma's confronting Ennis about Jack and the Jack Nasty conversation constitute a 'sucker punch' that is equivalent to the punch Ennis delivers to Jack before their first parting.  By this interpretation, is it stretching matters to think that the busted up headlight is a reminder/parallel to the 'sucker punch' Ennis gave Jake' long ago upon Brokeback?  Ennis leaves Jack wounded due to who he is, much in the same way Alma wounds Ennis by her recognition of who he is.

Thanks for listenin...
-Lynne

[Front-Ranger]

There were some electrical references during the reunion scene that we haven't mentioned yet:

"You gotta kid?" said Jack. His shaking hand grazed Ennis's hand, electrical current snapped between them.

"Two little girls," said Ennis. "Alma Jr. and Francine. Love em to pieces." Alma's mouth twitched.

...From the vibration of the floorboard on which they both stood, Ennis could feel how hard Jack was shaking.

Jack leaves Alma with a "please to meet you" while trembling like a run-out horse, and then Alma asks Ennis for cigarettes, the only time anybody does in the movie. He directs her to his blue shirt in the bedroom, where there is a pack in his pocket, instead of bringing her back smokes from the store.

Aside from the electrical and fire references, it is interesting that Ennis says he loves his girls "to pieces" because it's his love for Jack that is going to break the family in pieces. Alma seems to know this, as her mouth twitches as one would in response to touching fire or being shocked.

[nakymaton]

There's a fuse box barely visible in the entryway of the Riverton apartment at a couple points during the reunion scene. Electricity, controlled and in a box -- compare with the electricity of the reunion kiss.