Topic: Jack and Ennis: Their Love

[tpe]

Nice.

However, I feel a little peculiar about this and the intuition of Jack.
Jack's heart was Jack's heart, then, now, later:
It and other things were unveiled that Summer. His heart would then eventually become the future to what had happened - the love that occured between him and Ennis. I think the shirts were basically a perfect replica of how Jack did appreciate and value this love; part of the beautiful misery is that Ennis came to also do so only at the very moment of finding what Jack had left.
And what Jack had left was love palpable, something physical Ennis could finally touch, finally understand.
It's really a brutal formula and one that has flailed in its mystery to finally let go and certainly rest in the crevace of one man's heart. Just a small secluded spot (like Brokeback Mountain itself) where both men's spirits live on.

Oh how Jack knew and appreciated this love, and still does.
 :\'(

orangetruck. I like what you say here, especially about the role of the shirts.  What "crystalized" Jack's love for Ennis in the tangible sense later became the means by which the older Ennis was brought to the realization of Jack's love.

[aintfoolin]

 So Ennis finally comes *full circle* with Jack closing the loop with the shirts He found what he'd been looking for all his life, unconditional love. There was no need to look any further, though it was rght there all the time... in Jack.  I've often wondered how Ennis would have reacted if he found the shirts while Jack was still alive. Would they have a similar affect on him?  Sadly, Ennis did'nt see it till it was too late. The real tradgedy.

[orangetruck]

orangetruck. I like what you say here, especially about the role of the shirts.  What "crystalized" Jack's love for Ennis in the tangible sense later became the means by which the older Ennis was brought to the realization of Jack's love.

Jack's love and, maybe even harder to swallow, his own.

It tears me up to understand the pain of finding a love that has vanished.

[lamusica]

So Ennis finally comes *full circle* with Jack closing the loop with the shirts He found what he'd been looking for all his life, unconditional love. There was no need to look any further, though it was rght there all the time... in Jack.  I've often wondered how Ennis would have reacted if he found the shirts while Jack was still alive. Would they have a similar affect on him?  Sadly, Ennis did'nt see it till it was too late. The real tradgedy.

I just have the feeling that Ennis would have rejected the meaning of the entwined shirts had Jack still been alive.  He would have recognized that the shirts meant Jack loved him, but I doubt if Ennis would have acted upon that knowledge.  I rather think he would have just figured this was another ploy of Jack's to get Ennis to come set up house-keeping with him. The thought of Jack's love was just too overpowering for Ennis.  If he accepted the thought of that love, then he had to face his own sexual proclivities, and I don't think Ennis could do that until Jack was dead.   Once Jack was dead, Ennis could admit to their love because he knew he would never have to act upon that knowledge.  Jack was gone.  Just MHO.

[welshwitch]

I agree. In a way Jack's death sets Ennis free, at least emotionally. Had Jack not died, Ennis would have remained as shut in as ever and would never have examined what the relationship with Jack said about him.

[tpe]

So Ennis finally comes *full circle* with Jack closing the loop with the shirts He found what he'd been looking for all his life, unconditional love. There was no need to look any further, though it was rght there all the time... in Jack.  I've often wondered how Ennis would have reacted if he found the shirts while Jack was still alive. Would they have a similar affect on him?  Sadly, Ennis did'nt see it till it was too late. The real tradgedy.

Beautifully said.

Indeed, the shirts are a metaphor for their love: love found and love lost.

[tpe]

I just have the feeling that Ennis would have rejected the meaning of the entwined shirts had Jack still been alive.  He would have recognized that the shirts meant Jack loved him, but I doubt if Ennis would have acted upon that knowledge.  I rather think he would have just figured this was another ploy of Jack's to get Ennis to come set up house-keeping with him. The thought of Jack's love was just too overpowering for Ennis.  If he accepted the thought of that love, then he had to face his own sexual proclivities, and I don't think Ennis could do that until Jack was dead.   Once Jack was dead, Ennis could admit to their love because he knew he would never have to act upon that knowledge.  Jack was gone.  Just MHO.

Interesting point of view, lamusica.  I haveto think about this some more.  Would Ennis would have at least understood its meaning?  And yet, I also think that Jack's death did indeed bring the point home.

[aintfoolin]

I just have the feeling that Ennis would have rejected the meaning of the entwined shirts had Jack still been alive.  He would have recognized that the shirts meant Jack loved him, but I doubt if Ennis would have acted upon that knowledge.  I rather think he would have just figured this was another ploy of Jack's to get Ennis to come set up house-keeping with him. The thought of Jack's love was just too overpowering for Ennis.  If he accepted the thought of that love, then he had to face his own sexual proclivities, and I don't think Ennis could do that until Jack was dead.   Once Jack was dead, Ennis could admit to their love because he knew he would never have to act upon that knowledge.  Jack was gone.  Just MHO.

I don't know, Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Ennis had the opportunity to discover the shirts 20 years later and Jack was still alive. It's been a long time,, lot of water under the bridge. Alot of excuses. Would'nt this have more impact on Ennis than just the same old same old? Jack keeping the shirts as long as he did, and Ennis finding them displayed as they were, has to go a long way in proving how sincere Jack was about their love.  Wether it may have been the catylist for convincing Ennis to agree to a sweet life with Jack remains unknown, but it's a discovery that would make Ennis think long and hard about his choice. Jack is proving his love in way that Ennis can actually feel it. Obviously more than words could ever say. Just a thought.