A REPOST from TOB
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The use of water in BBM
by TheravadaAskesis (Fri Mar 2 2007 15:51:33 )
Of all the great symbolism involved in the movie Brokeback Mountain, the use of water in particular has always struck me as being the most evocative. Water is one of those great forces in nature and its role in the movie often seems to be as an opponent to Love, one of nature's other great forces.
While on Brokeback Mountain water is used as boundary for Ennis and Jack's paradise as well as an outside force that intrudes on their paradise. The scenes that set this up are when Jack and Ennis are bringing the sheep up and have to help some of them cross a river, Ennis encountering the bear who is sitting across a river, meeting Basque on the other side of a river to get their food and on the way back down when Jack spits in front Ennis right before they cross the river. In all of these scenes water is the defining border between their paradise and the outside world. The scene with Basque and the scene with the bear act as great examples for how water is a border to their paradise. Ennis crosses the river to receive food from the outside world. He starts to bring the food back to camp when he comes across a bear on the other side of another river. The bear spooks the mules and the supplies from the outside world are lost. This forces the boys to be self sufficient and it's when we see them bag the elk that they are exposed to the idea that everything they need is there and the outside world, Basque and the bear, be damned. The hail scene where Jack and Ennis are forced into the safety of their tent, and the snow scene where Ennis wakes up to be surrounded by snow are both scenes that evoke the image of the outside world forcing itself onto their paradise. Notice also how it is the threat of coming snow that triggers their early removal from the mountain. On the mountiain, water served as a border to, an intruder on, and the end of Jack and Ennis's paradise. During this section of the movie, water is the opponent of love. And even though water brought an early end to their paradise, it is obvious from what follows in the movie that it ultimately does not defeat love.
I'm sorry if this has come up before, I haven't seen any threads about the use of water as a symbol. Does anyone else have a different take on how water is used? I know it appears several other times and it seems like its meaning can be particular to a certain scene. I've really enjoyed seeing the discussions on this board, the range of ideas seen here is rivaled only by the movie itself.
Re: The use of water in BBM
by Rontrigger (Fri Mar 2 2007 16:16:41 )
A number of posters have likened the four main characters to the four "elements"--earth (Ennis), air [or wind] (Jack), water (Alma) and fire (Lureen).
I'm afraid I don't have time to go into detail on these concepts right now, but perhaps someone else could take over here?
"You can't have Ennis without Jack."--Annie Proulx
Re: The use of water in BBM
by True_Oracle_of_Phoenix (Mon Mar 5 2007 04:24:11 )
Water is the life force. It is an essential flow of energy
Rivers literature often symbolize the passage of time. Water flowing quickly can symbolize intense passion and youthful energy (rivers on Brokeback). Slow water flow can mean calm and tranquility, maturation, or stagnation of a relationship (the lake scene).
Water can be cleansing, and can be a symbol for purity, or it symbolize the need to bring purity to something that has become unclean. (Bathing naked in river can be seen as either innocence, or desire to return to innocence.)
Water flowing down a drain , as well as ice and snow are ominous and foreboding imagery (the end of summer on Brokeback, Alma washing dishes at the sink after Thankgiving dinner, Jack's complaint to Ennis about always going places when it is cold).
Water erodes rock (Alma wears down Ennis).
Wind erodes rock (Jack wears down Ennis).
Wind feeds fire (Jack with Lureen).
The absence of wind causes fire to die and leaves ash (Lureen after Jack, platinum blonde and dressed in white).
Re: The use of water in BBM
by LauraGigs (Sun Mar 18 2007 12:58:24 )
Another point is that each time Ennis discusses Jack with Alma (when he gets the first postcard and lies, and later at Thanksgiving when she rips away the truth) Ennis is washing his hands.
Re: The use of water in BBM
by retropian (Fri Mar 23 2007 06:09:32 )
You've made some interesting observations and interpretations. I like the idea of the streams and rivers that J&E cross when going to BBM as being symbolic of a sort of border. The rivers limn the boundary of J&E's sacred space on BBM. I think river crossings are often used as a metaphor of crossing from one realm in to another, or from one state of being to another. Certainly the act of Baptism, which would traditionally take place in a sacred river i.e. River Jordan, or Euphrates, the Ganges and many others are considered sacred by adherents of several religions. So the idea of J&E crossing and re-crossing rivers and streams as they enter then exit and reenter their "sacred space" on BBM is very insightful. Congrats.
Your observation that Ennis comes upon the bear at a stream is very appealing to me. I posted ages ago about the bear. I think it symbolizes Ennis's unconscious nature, his yet unrealized and suppressed feelings for Jack bursting through to consciousness in an unguarded moment. That that event happens just as he is about to cross a stream, in effect to reenter his and Jack's sacred space adds a new dimension. Very cool.
Additionally I've always thought that the moving water represented the movement of time. At the end of the August snowstorm scene, when Ennis is upset at having to leave a month early and Jack is taking down the tent, there is a shot of trickling snowmelt. It is the close-up of a small stream, which I've always thought and still do as a symbol for the movement of time. Time rushes by. It means (IMO) that time has begun to move for J&E. their idyll on BBM is soon to be past. Later, we always see them camped by a river, and as time goes by, they are faster moving rivers up until the lake scene where the water has finally stopped moving; their time is up.
Re: The use of water in BBM
by Clyde-B (Fri Mar 23 2007 06:22:47 )
There is also the classic notion that "still waters run deep", and it's by the lake that they will delve the deepest that they have ever gone into their relationship.
bump
by retropian (Sat Mar 31 2007 23:06:50 )
good thread, needs more thoughts from others.
Re: bump
by garycottle (Sat Mar 31 2007 23:41:17 )
In Toaism water is highly valued. Lao Tzu advises us in his Tao Te Ching to be like water. Rocks stick out and try to force their will on what's around them. But water doesn't fight, it just finds a way around, and over a very long period of time cuts through the rock. The Grand Canyon is a perfect example of this.
You could say that Jack's and Ennis's love is like water. It's patient. It's meandering. Jack and Ennis love each other for 20 years in spite of everything working against them. And Ennis continues to love even after Jack is gone. Society and the culture in which the boys come from can be seen as a rock trying to impede their natural flow. Jack and Ennis, as well as Alma and Lureen, were hurt by societal strictures, but that still didn't stop Jack and Ennis from loving one another. They went around and cut through.
