"Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short story. **SPOILERS AHEAD**
"Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short story. **SPOILERS AHEAD**
Joined: 12/31/69
"Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short story. **SPOILERS AHEAD**#0
Posted: 12/3/05 at 10:51pm
If you've read the short story, perhaps we can start a discussion in this thread.
To avoid spoilers:
If you haven't read the story, proceed with caution.
If you've already seen the film version, please try to keep any variations adopted by the screenwriter(s) outside the topic of this therad.
OK, here goes.
First question, what is a primary theme that runs through the story for you?
Joined: 12/31/69
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short story. **SPOILERS AHEAD**#1
Posted: 12/3/05 at 11:59pmNo readers around tonight?
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short story. **SPOILERS AHEAD**#2
Posted: 12/4/05 at 12:03amI read it. But discussing "themes" make me feel like I'm back in English class-a topic I'm desperately avoiding at the moment.
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short story. **SPOILERS AHEAD**#3
Posted: 12/4/05 at 12:58am
yeah I don't know so much for "themes" either, but I'll give it a shot... So the first time I read this I cried. Seriously wept, as in a friend just so happened to call me and I had to explain "what's wrong?" I think going in that first time, not knowing a thing about the story, I wanted a 'happy ending,' and while I was sure I wasn't going to get my happy ending, by the time we got through the ashes, and Jack's father, and the tire iron, and then the two shirts, I was spent.
And so the second time I read it I cried a little less, (managed to hold out until the two shirts), and for me the "theme" will always be in that last line (repeated from dialogue earlier in the story): if you can't fix it, you've got to stand it. Which I feel like I should be taking away another theme from one of the best love stories that I've read in a while, something grand about the power of love or something, but that's pretty much all of life: if you can't fix it you've got to stand it.
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#4
Posted: 12/4/05 at 1:09amWell to go the easy route because it's late and I'm tired, one of the most prevalent themes is fear. Ennis's fear of the tire iron pervades and drives the story. He refuses to try getting a ranch with Jack because of it. He spends his life in jobs that can be left at a moments notice and living in temporary places partially so he can see Jack more, but also because of his fear that someone will find out.
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#5
Posted: 12/4/05 at 2:34amI always thought of it as Ennis trying to protect Jack- with the whole tire iron bit Ennis 'knows' what will happen to two men who ranch together, hence his refusal, and why they only have Brokeback Mountain. I guess it could be fear, but it didn't feel unwarranted or unjust, rather just an acceptance (his acceptance) that there's no fixing those other people, and if you can't fix it...
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#6
Posted: 12/4/05 at 7:23am
It's a beautiful story, but I have a feeling the film adaptation may be even better.
The "tire iron" is a major "character" in the story, and in some ways, I feel it is almost the presence of a personified evil, representative of the evil in most people. As a reader, that tire iron was at the back of my head the whole time, worrying and placing doubts in the strength of the relationship. And in the end, as so often in life, that evil triumphs over the love.
No matter how much Ennis tries to close off his feelings, simply his way of protecting both of them, the tire iron still prevails. In the end, he is nothing but a shadow, haunted by the dreams of the one he loved more than anything, one who he chased away through coldness, and one who was the final victim of the dreaded tire iron...
Updated On: 12/4/05 at 07:23 AM
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#7
Posted: 12/4/05 at 8:27amI read the story when it was originally published in the New Yorker, and remember having tears in my eyes while reading it on the subway. That must've been a sight! Both Yoda and Doxy described how I feel about the major themes, so me essentially repeating what they have already said would be redundant.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#8
Posted: 12/4/05 at 9:00am
Thank you all for joining in. (I was afraid there were might have to simply look at the dirty pictures and forget about "themes." hehehe)
For me, a primary theme is isolation. That is apparent from the opening paragraphs and carries through down the the first sentence of the last paragraph.
The isolated lives many humans live, through choice, but also through circumstances, some of which can be changed by choice.
Updated On: 12/4/05 at 09:00 AM
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#9
Posted: 12/4/05 at 9:59am
You're absolutely right, Josê. It reminds me of something I wrote in my journal during a tough time this year:
Isolation, above all things, is the hardest state to deal with. Ironically, in most cases, such isolation is self-inflicted...
Joined: 12/31/69
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#10
Posted: 12/4/05 at 11:14am
Isolation can overcome the human spirit.
From the opening paragraph of "Brokeback" we're told that Ennis lives an isolated life.
"He turns on the tap and urinates in the sink..." The first hint that this character lives alone.
"It could be bad on the highway with the horsetrailer. He has to be packed and away from the place that morning. Again the ranch is on the market and they've shipped out the last of the horses, paid everybody off the day before..."
Amidst his life of lonliness and isolation, Ennis finds his soulmate, and yet his own choices and fears prevent him from breaking out of his isolation.
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#11
Posted: 12/4/05 at 1:29pmDoes anyone know where I can download the short story? Thanks.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#12
Posted: 12/4/05 at 1:36pm
broadway86, Signet has published it as a slim paperback priced at $9.95 + tax. I bought a copy at Barnes & Noble.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#13
Posted: 12/4/05 at 1:38pm
So we've identified isolation and also fear as two primary themes.
Are there others?
[I don't have the answers. I'm asking to learn what others think of the story, or how they were affected by it.]
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#14
Posted: 12/4/05 at 1:46pmThanks, Jose.
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#15
Posted: 12/4/05 at 5:12pm
Well there is love, of course. The unquenchable, unbreakable, and yet completely fragile realities of love.
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#16
Posted: 12/4/05 at 5:29pm
So we've identified isolation and also fear as two primary themes.
Are there others?
paradox_error just beat me to it, and a lot more eloquently: love.
And also hate- the tire iron, Jack's father...
Joined: 12/31/69
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#17
Posted: 12/4/05 at 7:47pm
Is it hate or is it a lack of understanding? A refusal to accept what is unknown?
Recall Ennis' wife's reaction to their greeting, and later, after their divorce when Ennis visits her home, he goes into her kitchen and she tells him the story about the fishing line.
Hate, or another form of fear?
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#18
Posted: 12/8/05 at 10:24am
PED
Joined: 12/31/69
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#19
Posted: 12/26/05 at 12:05am'cause I like this thread, and I received a copy of "Close Range."
re: 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx -- A discussion of the short stor#20
Posted: 12/26/05 at 1:44amRegret -- "nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it you've got to stand it." I think time is fear's accomplice in the story.
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