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Brokeback What would happen if Ennis died instead of Jack?

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Pinky11:
He wouldn't be as ruined as Ennis and would continue his search for the sweet life.

FlwrChild:
What's crazy is that I don't know if I've ever thought about that but it's a fascinating question, isn't it?


 I think you might be right, not because Jack loved Ennis any less than Ennis loved Jack but because there were two key things that were different between Ennis and Jack:

(1) Jack knew that he loved Ennis. It was clear that that’s what he was trying to tell Ennis in various ways across the years. Whereas Ennis was in a certain amount of denial about ‘this thing’ of theirs. He definitely compartmentalized his feelings. I don’t think he either understood the depth of Jack’s love for him or realized how much he loved Jack in return until he saw those shirts intertwined in that closet.

(2) Jack had already coped with the pain of losing Ennis in different ways across the years (the post divorce scene being a prime example). And knew that a day might come when Ennis said he just couldn’t do it anymore. So I think he’d been priming himself for that possibility and as such it might be less of a shock to his system. I know that death is different than just ending a relationship but I think that Jack might have been more prepared to not have Ennis in his life anymore.

In addition to that, there is the fact that Ennis realized his feelings for Jack too late to ever be able to tell him that he loved him, and that’s a weight that Jack wouldn’t have carried (because I think he'd made that evident all along).


On the flip side of all of this though is the fact that Laureen told Ennis that Jack had been drinking a lot. So maybe he really wasn’t coping very well and maybe losing Ennis permanently would have been his breaking point. In which case, sadly, I could see him simply drinking himself to death. Though it’s always possible that, as much as he would genuinely grieve for Ennis, knowing a life with him was no longer possible might free him in some way to seek that sweet life. But my heart tells me that for Jack, there was only one true sweet life and that could only be with Ennis. This was the case for both of them. It was both the beauty and the tragedy of their relationship.

rampantlion:
If Ennis were to pass away, it seems that Jack would have a backup relationship with someone he met at a dance party. He might continue going to Mexico, and his wish to quit Ennis would come true, albeit in a sad way. However, Ennis is closeted, careful, and fearful of death, which contributes to the story's tragic ending, as it is primarily centered around him at closeted due to the society back then; so the story would be incomplete and would leave Jack with a troubling ending as well that opens up more can of worms.

FlwrChild:
Yes, I think no matter which one went first, the other was always going to live out the rest of their days in a kind of instinctive pattern of waking and breathing but not really living, the main spark in their hearts having been extinguished.

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