At the end, lots of discussion about if Jack was really killed r if it was a figment of Ennis' imagination.
Anyway, I think that Jack's father in law had Jack killed. Remember the other couple they met at the dance? And the guy asked Jack to come down to the cabin? Wasn't that guy hired by Jack's father in law? I think he was hired to "get rid of Jack".
While it is officially an open-ended question on how Jack really dies, I find it very easy to fill in the blanks and see that Jack's lapse in judgment put in motion the tragic result.
stationbbm
It is UNFORTUNATE that you blame the victim here. It was not Jack's lapses in judgement that put in motion the tragic result. It was in fact the tolerated beliefs and actions of evil that created the environment for him to be murdered matter of factly.While it is officially an open-ended question on how Jack really dies, I find it very easy to fill in the blanks and see that Jack's lapse in judgment put in motion the tragic result.
stationbbm
At the end, lots of discussion about if Jack was really killed r if it was a figment of Ennis' imagination.
Anyway, I think that Jack's father in law had Jack killed. Remember the other couple they met at the dance? And the guy asked Jack to come down to the cabin? Wasn't that guy hired by Jack's father in law? I think he was hired to "get rid of Jack".
Her husband died on a road somewhere! He is dead...full stop. that's her story and she sticks to it!
OMG!! I just thought about the song '' He was a friend of mine '' . Good, frog!! I never thought about the movie and THIS song! He maybe not died from the tire, but maybe an accident with another car.. or something else on the road when he wanted to come see Ennis?
In the short story it states that Jack's father in law dies before May 1983. Jack then became more involved in the family business and made money of his own, then he starts growing a mustache!...so his FIL could not have had a hand in it!
Personally I have two views on Jacks death:
In the short story...no one can tell! It is open to your own imagination/interpretation. And before the movie came out, many people argued about that point too!
When i first read it, i realised that Annie Proulx wanted the readers to think for themselves...and i personally believed that he had been "killed" but secretly hoped it was an accident.
In the movie, and mainly because of the telephone scene between Lureen and Ennis...i know he was killed...
Did anyone have a hand in it? who knows? maybe the rancher's wife? maybe stupid homophobics? Maybe Lureen's family, or even her lover (because i don't believe that she was faithful to Jack).
When Lureen tells Ennis about the death, it's like she is reciting a well prepared story, she has absolutely no emotion, it just comes out...and it's only when Ennis starts talking about Brokeback Mountain that she starts reacting. She is sad, you can tell she knows exactly who he is and what BB meant to Jack.
Her husband died on a road somewhere! He is dead...full stop. that's her story and she sticks to it!
Reading the original short story this morning, the author makes it clear that the Tire Iron murder theory is Ennis', not Laureen's. Furthermore, Laureen's father is long dead before Jack dies. In the story, Ennis mentions that Jack has some money now that his father-in-law has passed.
As for Laureen lying to Ennis about Jack's death, the author, before the conversation begins, writes that Laureen's voice is level. To authors, level is synonymous with honest, and so there is no reason to believe that Jack's widow is misleading Ennis.
No matter how Jack passed, his departure was a bitter loss and lesson for Ennis.
When reading the story myself, I made the link between the car tire and a tire iron...perhaps too literal, but it's a useful way of quite powerfully suggesting Jack was killed by the iron rather than in the quite improbable circumstances described by Laureen.
The idea that Jack was murdered is horrific and, and the conspiratorial stance taken by Laureen in the film heightens this. Does anyone think what she said had the faint air of fobbing Ennis off? Of reducing Jack's death to some odd and freaskish accident?
I think the brutality of the murder is given added poignancy in the light of what happened to Matthew Shepherd - although the story was written before this, I think the film delves in to the rampaging and violent homophobia which killed Jack and which still exists today. The extent of the prejudice some people feel is still there, and not confined to 1983...that is why as many people as possible must watch this film.
I'm digressing terribly here, and probably not making much sense, but Jack's death does give the film some haunting relevance to today's society.
Also I have yet to be convinced as to why would Lureen lie to Ennis since he was absolutely no threat to her - she never saw him, she would never meet him.(I always believed Lureen's version.)
I think that to Ennis, who doesn't have the word "homophobia" at his disposal, the tire iron = homophobia. That's how he was introduced to it, at that's how he refers to it in his head, so that's the recurring symbol for it in the story.
Interesting discussion, and what's most interesting about this is that the same text in the story can have different connotations for the reader.
Interesting discussion, and what's most interesting about this is that the same text in the story can have different connotations for the reader.
I believe that Lureen was lying, and that Jack was killed. Maybe she didn't know how exactly, but I believe she knew why. Her "cold as snow" voice, in the story, connotes to me that she wasn't grieving, but was, in fact, angry that she was talking to Ennis, who she probably did know was Jack's lover, and that she really wasn't sorry that he was killed.
The way that Anne Hathaway plays this, in combination with Ang Lee's direction I'm sure, is brilliant. Very open to interpretation. At times she seems to be grieving about Jack's death, at others she seems like she might be grieving about the TRUTH about Jack, and that it may have gotten him killed. When Ennis asks how Jack died, she seems gives a little sigh, delivers the speech in a flat voice, like lines that she's memorized. That made me feel like it was a false story, a coverup. But you could say she's detached, had fallen out of love, maybe didn't want the truth to be known because of how people would talk, even if she suspected/knew why Jack was killed. Or if he was killed at all! So many possible undercurrents to her conversation, and her delivery is what makes them all plausible.
One more thing -- when Ennis lets her know what the "Brokeback Mountain" Jack was always talking about was, she looks like she might cry and lets out a tiny gasp. I always thought this was because she just made the connection that Jack's favorite place was up in Wyoming, where he spent time with this man, whom he always took trips alone to see. She realizes who Ennis is to Jack. She may have known or suspected about Jack's extramarital affairs, but may not have suspected this one until that moment. Of course, that's open to interpretation too.
Jack_ME, I will echo ethan and thank you for your detailed analysis regarding Jack's death.
The movie, short story, and screenplay are separate works of art. The fact that all three make us think about the subtle differences and variations they present is more a blessing than a curse, IMO!
Ennis is convinced that Jack was murdered with a tire iron. I don’t necessarily believe it.
McMurtry: It’s what Ennis is feeling at the moment. But Lureen’s explanation is just as good. A lot of tires blow up and kill people.
Do people hope Jack wasn’t murdered? What do they believe?
Ossana: We’ve been asked that [in every interview]. You can’t believe the things we’ve heard—for example, did Lureen’s father have him killed? A reporter walked up to me and said, “What really happened? I need to know.” I said, “What do you think?” He told me, and I said, “Well, if that works for you, then good.”
Oh, that’s the most hateful writer answer.
Ossana: But even Annie will tell you it’s ambiguous to her. When you see that [flash] on the screen, we tell people that [we don’t know] what actually happened to Jack. But it’s what Ennis thinks, and he’s been set up to think that by his entire past. This was his biggest fear, that something would happen. And the tragedy is multilayered. If Jack was killed that way, the guilt that Ennis must feel—maybe if he’d taken him up on it, this wouldn’t have happened. But also the fact that he’s not sure. What is more tragic than not knowing how your loved one has died?
hidesert posted:
To quote from the McMurtry-Ossana interview in the Advocate (SNIP)
sweet_man_1
jack_me: i loved reading your post and analysis... i do agree wholeheartedly with practically everything you say, including your understanding of jack's wife's emotion (or emotionless as it were) phone call with Ennis
jacks wife acted as though she did not know Ennis at all...
I have just read the marvelously long but very 'in-depth' explanation of Jack's death written by Jack_ME (on the previous page) and I can just about start to cry. Until now, I've not come across anyone who could put down in such a clear and understandable manner, my thoughts exactly! Thank you Jack_ME! Wonderfully put, and I agree with you wholeheartedly. My words exactly!
The text which follows is poignant as it is an extremely good example of how people often refuse to say what they really mean...fumbling around by saying one thing...but really meaning 'another'. For us to really understand what is being said...we have to very carefully 'read between the lines'...
Ennis says: "Well ma'am, we...we was herdin' sheep on Brokeback one summer. Back in '63."
Meaning: "I'm the Ennis from Brokeback Mountain...the one Jack loved all these years..."
Lureen let's out a small gasp meaning: "Oh, so YOU are Ennis! Jack's secret love..."
Lureen says: "Well, he said it was his favorite place...I thought he meant to get drunk. He drank alot."
Meaning: "Brokeback Mountain was his favorite place... it was his favorite place to see you. He loved seeing you. You were his favorite...He loved you."
Ennis says: "Well, I thank you for your time...I sure am sorry...We was good friends..."
Meaning: "Thank you for 'telling' me that he loved me...I know that you loved him too and that his death is ALSO a great loss for you too. I surely did love him..."
Here, Lureen lets out her second small gasp meaning: "It's hard for me to accept that I was 'second place'...but okay, I know that you loved him too."
Her eyes saturate to the brim with tears...
And...in an extremely difficult, but unselfish way, she FORCES herself to say the following:
Lureen says: "Get in touch with his folks...I suppose they'd appreciate it if his wishes was carried out...'bout the ashes, I mean..."
Meaning: "I KNOW what Jack must have meant to you. I understand how BAD this is for you. Visit his folks...'bout his ashes...it might be but a small thing, but it might somehow help you to grieve..."
She then slams the phone back on the hook. Not in anger...but because it took every ounce of her willpower to say all that needed to be said to Ennis (Jack's main Love) during this extremely difficult last few minutes of conversation. She has made the grand gesture of telling Ennis to get in touch with Jack's folks... And finally, the effort simply overwhelms her with emotion, and she ends it to stop feeling the pain. There's nothing more to be said. She has said everything of importance. And so has Ennis...
Each must now go their separate ways to deal with Jacks death...each of them, alone. Each of them lonely and filled with grief.