Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

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

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Rayn:
Hi All...

Well, the "Jack I swear, I should've never let you out of my sight." said in the motel room is enlightening, but in the book when Ennis says "Jack, I swear.." at the end, Annie also adds word to the effect (not a quote) "....though he never was one to swear, nor did he ever ask Jack to swear anything." and that further adds to the "openness" of the line "Jack, I swear..."   

And of course the book does go beyond the line and on to his dreaming about Jack and the revealing line, "There was some open space between that he believed and what happened, but nothing could be done about that."  And the last line of the book, is that "realist" statement of Ennis's  "And if you can't fix it, you gotta stand it."   It's interesting that the movie didn't go on to Ennis dreaming etc, but uses the "Jack, I swear..." as the end.  It does really leave the ending open and more mysterious.   Anyway, I'm enjoying what others are saying here.  Thanks!

Rayn

bbm_stitchbuffyfan:
My personal interpretation of the line:

"Jack, I swear... [I will always love you, and I will never forget you.]"

I love how ambiguous that line is; also, that one line is a complete gut-wrencher.

www.jlodown.com

Fla_Tim:

--- Quote from: Rayn on April 01, 2006, 11:38:09 pm ---It's interesting that the movie didn't go on to Ennis dreaming etc, but uses the "Jack, I swear..." as the end. 

Rayn

--- End quote ---

The dreams and final scene were nice and important bookends to the story, I thought the dreams in the story placed it morefully in the context of Ennis's mind. It reminded me of the opening to Out Of Africa where Karen Blixen is dreaming at night of the farm and life she had had in Africa.

Impish:

--- Quote from: Aussie Chris on April 01, 2006, 07:57:48 am ---
Jack, I swear...  You really messed me up good

--- End quote ---

I've always preferred this sort of take on it: that he wasn't vowing anything, just commenting on how sad he is and how much he misses him.

opinionista:
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.

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