Campbell

Week1: Brokeback Mountain Short Story

In the story Brokeback Mountain, Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar are two young ranch hands whose paths cross while tending sheep in the remote Wyoming wilderness.  Somehow these two young men found themselves becoming physically intimate in an abrupt and unexpected manner. Was it the combination of the isolation, inclement elements, and alcohol that sparked this event, which was burned in to their psyches and forever shaped their sexuality? Possibly; however, there are numerous other theories as to why this took place.  What are the odds, this story notwithstanding and its attempt to break down societal norms, that two men in the middle of nowhere who have little knowledge of each, other prior to their meeting, would both be sexually attracted to each other?  It is likely that if the two men did not share the same orientation, Jack might have found himself dead in the Wyoming wilderness at the hands of Ennis rather than on the side of the road in Childress, TX sharing the same fate as the old man, Earl, that Ennis’s father showed him in his youth explaining about expectations of a man.

Jack and Ennis parted ways after that summer on Brokeback mountain and for all intensive proposes lived hetero-sexual lives, both marring and having children, until Jack reached out and made contact with Ennis some four years later and sending both of their lives into a disruptive cycle.  Both had married woman who eventually wanted more out of life as they mature than the two restless wayward and rambling men could offer.  Alma and Lureen both in their own ways broke free of their societal bonds, Alma by divorcing Ennis in search of a better more secure life, and Lureen who became the head of her father business in the absences of Jack’s ambition.

Reading the full story, I found it hard not to have sympathy for the strong emotional, perhaps even love that Jack and Ennis shared for one another; however, it seemed that every encounter was strictly physical without the full depth of a true relationship. Yes one would argue that the there was no chance at a meaningful relationship, because the two men were bound by societies rules of masculinity and the excuse that they had followed that up with marring woman and procreating fulfilling  societies perception and of judgment of men.  Yet Jack and Ennis continued to purse woman when, at least Ennis could have after being divorced from Alma.  Furthermore, as the reader I found myself asking why did Jack not leave his wife for Ennis after his divorce?  Earlier in the story, Jack was asking what they should do about their situation implying that they could run off together; have a little ranching operation leaving their families behind.  My reasoning for this criticism is not in an attempt to discount the validity of societies troubles in dealing with same sex couples, but rather to point out that hitting someone in the face when they’re not expecting it, much like Ennis did to Jack and this story does is much less effective and more inflammatory than helpful to gaining acceptance.

I personally would have been much more impressed by a story that breaks down the bravado and falsehoods of masculinity where Jack and Ennis conveyed more of their emotional selves to one another without the graphic descriptions of their sexual escapades.  A more impactful story would have been for Jack and Ennis to realize that they were living a lie as hetero-sexuals and opted to share a lifelong relationship which described the trials and tribulations of homo-sexual couples in the truest sense of a committed relationship.   Instead the story portrayed them as acting recklessly and impulsively as any man or woman would who is having a secret affair which often ends badly with people being emotionally and physically hurt, or in Jack’s case, dead thus lending less credibility and social acceptance and viability of homo-sexual relationships  or any relationship when social constraints are ambiguous.