Topic: The Significance of Mexico

[Patriot1]

There's no way Jack only went to Ennis after the divorce for sex - he genuinely believed that this was their chance to set up ranch together - but when Ennis rejectd him again, his devastation led him to seek an outlet for his frustration (and I don't just mean sexual frustration). I think there would also have been some thought of "getting back" at Ennis by going with a prostitute - even though Ennis would never (or at least, not until much later) know about it.

I guess when you're mad at someone the most obvious thing to do for revenge is the one thing you know they'd really, really disapprove of.

I am going to have to take your word for it. I have no experience in these matters.  I don't like Jack going to Mexico.

[TJ]

THE FOLLOWING QUOTE WAS MOVED FROM ANOTHER THREAD BECAUSE TO ANSWER THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN OFF TOPIC.

Now in retrospect, I feel a little pain right now because that was what was playing on the radio in Jack's truck when he left Ennis behind and had made the trip up to Wyoming for nothing. (Sort of OT here, I was upset by the movie because instead of Jack going on up to Lightning Flat or back to Childress, Texas, they had Jack high-tail it to El Paso, Texas to cross the border and have sex with a Mexican. I really don't think that the book version of Jack ever went to Mexico in the first place.

I agree with you TJ.  There are two scenes in the movie I have never (from the second time on) been able to watch.  The first (and most important) is Jack's death.  The second one is his trip to Mexico.  I absolutely did not like the screenwriters suggesting that the only reason Jack went to Ennis' after the divorce was for sex.  If it wasn't just for sex why did he have the need to go to Mexico?  He could have gone to his parent's home or like you said back home to Childress.  He wouldn't have needed to go to Mexico for a prostitute.

If you look at a USA Road Atlas and you draw a line from where Ennis was living after the divorce in Wyoming to El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico (chosing the best roads along the way), you will see that Jack would have had plenty of places to stop to have anonymous sex. And, there would have been plenty of reststops and truck stops between where Ennis lived and Childress, Texas, too.

To me, "Mexico" was place Ennis had heard about and IMO, it was not the available sex that was the problem, it was the fact that a guy could get killed in Mexico for being a "maricon" (that's "queer" in English). [OT sorta, I have met Mexicans (in LA) who claimed they were not gay because they were not a bottom when they had sex. But, their sexual orientation was definitely exclusively homosexual.)

Going by the book version here: After Jack's wife, Lureen, inherited her father's company, she gave Jack a vague managerial title and made him a buyer for her company. I would say that Jack took advantage of the travel expense account that went with the job and probably had "guests" in his motel/hotel room while he was on the road.

I say what I did in the above, because during my closet days, I was not the one who did the traveling; but, I had sex with guys, who were salesmen and/or company reps, when they were in town. I met them at the places closeted homosexuals also went. BTW, some of them were from Texas, too. And, since I was living with my folks back then, it was defintely where they were staying.

[bram]

If you look at a USA Road Atlas and you draw a line from where Ennis was living after the divorce in Wyoming to El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico (chosing the best roads along the way), you will see that Jack would have had plenty of places to stop to have anonymous sex. And, there would have been plenty of reststops and truck stops between where Ennis lived and Childress, Texas, too.

To me, "Mexico" was place Ennis had heard about and IMO, it was not the available sex that was the problem, it was the fact that a guy could get killed in Mexico for being a "maricon" (that's "queer" in English). [OT sorta, I have met Mexicans (in LA) who claimed they were not gay because they were not a bottom when they had sex. But, their sexual orientation was definitely exclusively homosexual.)

Going by the book version here: After Jack's wife, Lureen, inherited her father's company, she gave Jack a vague managerial title and made him a buyer for her company. I would say that Jack took advantage of the travel expense account that went with the job and probably had "guests" in his motel/hotel room while he was on the road.

I say what I did in the above, because during my closet days, I was not the one who did the traveling; but, I had sex with guys, who were salesmen and/or company reps, when they were in town. I met them at the places closeted homosexuals also went. BTW, some of them were from Texas, too. And, since I was living with my folks back then, it was defintely where they were staying.

That makes a lot of sense. My dad is part owner of a small company out in small town Texas, and I know of at least a couple of guys there that go on trips like that and use company money to get gas and motel rooms for girls they're cheating on their wives with. I don't believe any of them are cheating with guys, and I have been known to have some pretty good gaydar.

[donnaread]

I guess when you're mad at someone the most obvious thing to do for revenge is the one thing you know they'd really, really disapprove of.

I am going to have to take your word for it. I have no experience in these matters.  I don't like Jack going to Mexico.

I think Jack was just trying to assuage the pain of Ennis' rejection.  I've known people who have been dumped by spouses or lovers who've done the same sort of thing.  But instead of going to Mexico, they go to a bar pick somebody up and have a one night stand.  And I'm sure Jack was pretty drunk by the time he let that prostitute pick him up.  It was a way to block out the pain, even if only for a little while.  I felt very sorry for him, and certainly didn't blame him for what he did. 

[TJ]

Oh, I just say that Jack thought, "Ennis, if you are going to accuse me of going to Mexico, and by the way that you are acting you seem to believe that I have already been there, I might as well tell another lie and claim it to be true. After all, you believed the lie about the rancher's wife down in Texas when you lied about that bar girl to prove you're still not no queer."

[Patriot1]

And I'm sure Jack was pretty drunk by the time he let that prostitute pick him up.  It was a way to block out the pain, even if only for a little while.  I felt very sorry for him, and certainly didn't blame him for what he did. 

I must have missed something. I missed the part where Jack was drinking on his way to Mexico.  And, I think I missed the part where the prostitute picks Jack up.  I thought it was the other way around.

[Kemmer]

And I'm sure Jack was pretty drunk by the time he let that prostitute pick him up.  It was a way to block out the pain, even if only for a little while.  I felt very sorry for him, and certainly didn't blame him for what he did. 

I must have missed something. I missed the part where Jack was drinking on his way to Mexico.  And, I think I missed the part where the prostitute picks Jack up.  I thought it was the other way around.

I don't think it really matters who picked up whom; I tend to go along with Jack doing the picking simply because I have done the very same thing after a terrible row with my own partner many years ago.  [We've been together 30 years.]  I think it's a very common reaction among men who've been through an emotional firestorm, and I don't blame Jack one bit.

[Patriot1]

I don't think it really matters who picked up whom; I tend to go along with Jack doing the picking simply because I have done the very same thing after a terrible row with my own partner many years ago.  [We've been together 30 years.]  I think it's a very common reaction among men who've been through an emotional firestorm, and I don't blame Jack one bit.

Well, I just don't understand how you can sleep with someone else just because you and your partner have had a fight or because you are disappointed. (By the way, I use the word "you" but I am not meaning YOU KEMMER) What on earth does that accomplish?  How does that settle anything? 

[proulxfan]

It can be a quick remedy for all the pain and anger that result from a misunderstanding or a partner's being unavailable, for whatever reason. I'm not saying it's a good remedy, or solves anything-if anything it creates more problems-but it can definitely make you feel better for a while. Been there, done that.

[Patriot1]

It can be a quick remedy for all the pain and anger that result from a misunderstanding or a partner's being unavailable, for whatever reason. I'm not saying it's a good remedy, or solves anything-if anything it creates more problems-but it can definitely make you feel better for a while. Been there, done that.

I don't know guys.  I guess it is my total lack of any experience that prevents me from seeing how anyone could do such a thing. If I ever slept with someone other than my partner I would never be able to face him again. 

[proulxfan]

I guess it's just that some people, and some relationships, are able to handle the fact that each partner is human, therefore fallible. For me, and for us, the important thing is to be honest and willing to answer for our mistakes. ( I should clarify here that when I said been there, done that, it was referring to a previous relationship, not my current one of ten years.)

[Patriot1]

I guess it's just that some people, and some relationships, are able to handle the fact that each partner is human, therefore fallible. For me, and for us, the important thing is to be honest and willing to answer for our mistakes. ( I should clarify here that when I said been there, done that, it was referring to a previous relationship, not my current one of ten years.)

So you are saying it is a mistake and therefore wrong?  It is something that can just happen because we are human?

[proulxfan]

Well, Patriot1, let me ask you a question. Ennis obviously isn't too hot on the idea of Jack's going to Mexico either, and verbally threatens to kill him for it, in the heat of anger. Subsequently, Jack dies, or is killed. Thus, Ennis gets his wish, in a manner of speaking. Jack is "appropriately" punished for doing wrong. Absolutist categorizing of behavior as either always right or always wrong tends to lead to just such consequences. Witness the punishments meted out in some Islamic societies for sexual transgressions. On a less dramatic scale, I do know of some couples who would throw out or leave their partner/spouse for sleeping with someone else, regardless of the circumstances, or how long they have been togther.
I tend to view a relationship as a form of emotional investment, and so I am less likely to abandon a partner without question or delay just because-in my case, he-slept with someone else. I wouldn't be too happy about it, but I wouldn't necessarily be out the door tomorrow either. And my question to you is, how do you think Ennis feels about his statement of "... All them things I don't know...could get you killed if I should come to know them!" , by the end of the film? Is he swearing vengeance when he gazes at the shirts? Remember, he learned of another infidelity from Jack's father. "Jack, I swear, I would've killed you myself!"? Or, "I would've never seen you again!"?
 
Or would he take it all back??  Just to have one more chance to be with Jack again. I think so.

And in my personal calculus of values, I think Ennis's verbal threat is worse than all of Jack's liasons with other men, realized or attempted.
But, sap that I am, I'd forgive them both.

[NoReins]

Or would he take it all back??  Just to have one more chance to be with Jack again. I think so.

Beyond any shadow of a doubt, yes. The look on Ennis's face when he finds the shirts and later when he says "Jack, I swear..." isn't the look of a man who would have exacted the ultimate revenge - it's the look of a man who realises too late how much he loved Jack, how much he's lost, and how much he'd give to have another chance.

[Kemmer]

I think we've got to realize that Jack spent ca 14 hours burning up the road between Childress and Riverton in a state of ecstacy and  anticipation.  Ennis was divorced at last and Jack saw the life of his dreams unfolding before him--after so many years of furtive and "never-enough-time" spent with Ennis.  Now they could begin building their life together.

When Jack found out that it just wasn't so, he was stunned and devastated---and I thought Ennis handled the situation abominably.  For the first time we saw Jack crying.  Going to Mexico wasn't just about sex.  It was a catharsis.

C'mon, admit it, guys.  Under extreme emotional stress, sometimes doesn't it help to "get off"?

[proulxfan]

Absolutely!
 Patriot's right in one respect though; there can be hell to pay later!

[TJ]

Jack's (actual) trip to Mexico in the movie was from the mind of the screenplay writers. Annie Proulx never wrote in her original story that Jack ever went to Mexico for any reason.

Jack's "Mexico" was not a country in his (book) response; it was his attempt to get emotional fulfillment from other guys when he as not with Ennis up in Wyoming.

Ennis had no problem whatsoever with Jack having sex with women; but, he was jealous of Jack having, or the possibility of having, sex with another man.

They did not have a committed/covenanted relationship; but, Ennis acted like he owned Jack when it came to sex and relationships with other guys. That's why Jack complained about the "short lease" Ennis kept him on.

[Patriot1]

As you can see, I have given this discussion about Jack going to Mexico for sex with a prostitute because he was hurt and disappointed a lot of thought.  I have consolidated the pertinant posts to make it easier to follow the discussion.

I absolutely did not like the screenwriters suggesting that the only reason Jack went to Ennis' after the divorce was for sex.  If it wasn't just for sex why did he have the need to go to Mexico? 

I guess when you're mad at someone the most obvious thing to do for revenge is the one thing you know they'd really, really disapprove of.

I am going to have to take your word for it. I have no experience in these matters.  I don't like Jack going to Mexico.

I think it's a very common reaction among men who've been through an emotional firestorm, and I don't blame Jack one bit.

Well, I just don't understand how you can sleep with someone else just because you and your partner have had a fight or because you are disappointed. (By the way, I use the word "you" but I am not meaning YOU KEMMER) What on earth does that accomplish?  How does that settle anything?

It can be a quick remedy for all the pain and anger that result from a misunderstanding or a partner's being unavailable, for whatever reason. I'm not saying it's a good remedy, or solves anything-if anything it creates more problems-but it can definitely make you feel better for a while. Been there, done that.

I don't know guys.  I guess it is my total lack of any experience that prevents me from seeing how anyone could do such a thing. If I ever slept with someone other than my partner I would never be able to face him again. 

I guess it's just that some people, and some relationships, are able to handle the fact that each partner is human, therefore fallible. For me, and for us, the important thing is to be honest and willing to answer for our mistakes.

So you are saying it is a mistake and therefore wrong?  It is something that can just happen because we are human?

Subject was changed to forgiveness for transgressions here. I do not want to dismiss this post because I feel it is important but do not feel it is in keeping with the theme of this discussion; Jack going to Mexico for sex with a prostitute because he is hurt and disappointed.  I will make mention of this post (forgiveness) later.

I think we've got to realize that Jack spent ca 14 hours burning up the road between Childress and Riverton in a state of ecstacy and  anticipation.  Ennis was divorced at last and Jack saw the life of his dreams unfolding before him--after so many years of furtive and "never-enough-time" spent with Ennis.  Now they could begin building their life together.

When Jack found out that it just wasn't so, he was stunned and devastated---and I thought Ennis handled the situation abominably. 

For the first time we saw Jack crying.  Going to Mexico wasn't just about sex.  It was a catharsis.

C'mon, admit it, guys.  Under extreme emotional stress, sometimes doesn't it help to "get off"?

From reading all of this I come away with the following:  Jack's behavior was acceptable, considering the conditions, although not really appropriate.  He is, after all, only human. 

But it is because he is human that I can not understand his behavior.  Jack shows up on Ennis' door step unannounced expecting they are now going to live in wedded bliss together.  Why? Ennis told Jack years ago, "Two men living together...no way."  What made Jack think that no longer applied? 

No, I see Jack driving up to Ennis' thinking he was finally going to spend a week with Ennis at Ennis' house where it was warm and where Jack could get some loving and sex from the man he loved.  He realized that wasn't going to happen when he saw Ennis' face when the truck drove by.  Ennis was terrified the people in the truck might wonder who this guy is with Ennis and think they were two fags.  Paranoia, plain and simple.  So, Jack drives away hurt and disappointed.  And for those of you who haven't read it on other threads, I think Ennis' behavior was deplorable, even if Jack hadn't warned him he was coming.

So, Jack drives away hurt and disappointed.  And what does he do?  He says to himself, I'll show you Ennis del Mar! You don't want me around?  Good.  I'll go to Mexico to get what I need from a sleazy prostitute who, in all likelyhood, has every kind of venereal disease known to man. I'll show you!  Problem is, Ennis didn't know he went to Mexico so I guess Jack wasn't showing Ennis anything.

In my opinion, I would have liked to see the screenwriters make Jack into a REAL human and have him say, Ok, I did drop in unexpected.  Tell you what Ennis, I am going to get a room for the night at the motel and sleep the night there before going back to Texas. If you can get away for a few hours tonight, stop by.  You know I want to see you. Then Jack drives off and cries himself to sleep or until Ennis shows up.  To me, that would have been a whole lot better than running off to Mexico. That would have made him a rational human.

And, if it is true, that while under extreme emotional stress, sometimes it helps to "get off", then Jack could have made a date with Rosie Palm at the motel.

Now, as for forgiveness; I would forgive the person I loved anything, once...maybe twice in a lifetime.  More than that and I start thinking I am being used.  If we are living together that means that I have given my heart, my mind my very essence to you. I would sacrefice anything for you, including my life if need be.  Trample on that once, maybe twice and I will learn to live with that pain.  But, don't push your luck thinking you will get away with it "because you are only human." So am I, and I would NEVER, EVER go with someone else just because I was disappointed and hurt.

You think that is fantasy world crap?  Well, maybe.  I live in a fantasy world.  It is the only world I know about.  But, if I ever came out of my shell I would do anything and everything I could to make it happen in the real world.

[proulxfan]

Change the word "acceptable" above to "understandable", and from my viewpoint, that would be about right. I feel like my words are getting twisted a bit here; I'm not endorsing sleeping around on a partner. And we must remember that there has been no commitment made by Jack to remain faithful to Ennis, hence the line about Brokeback Mountain being all they have. Not a "relationship", and not a commitment. I think Jack would have made such a commitment if Ennis were available to live with him, but as it stood, no.
And I don't feel the screenwriters intended that Jack was just heading up to Wyoming to spend a week at Ennis's house. That wouldn't be much of an advance on their two-or-three-time-a-year "fishing" trips, and its not happening wouldn't have been so devastating. I think we are meant to believe that Jack was going to Wyoming with the expectation, or at least the hope, that Ennis would now be available to have the kind of relationship he had been dreaming of, precisely because Jack is a dreamer by nature.
"...a sleazy prostitute who, in all likelihood, has every kind of venereal disease known to man" Not much I can add to that one except to say: judgemental?? Yikes!!
But seriously, I hope you yet find the partner with whom you can share the kind of relationship you allude to here. There are many who hold the strong feeling about commitment and monogamy that you do. Be clear to him what your hopes and  your expectations are, and best or luck in coming out of that shell, hard and crusty as it may be.
Peace,
david 

[TJ]

In discussion about a book and about a movie, in the same section of this forum, there can be lots of confusion, especially when some things in the book are not in the movie and some of the things in the movie are not in the book. Or when some things in the movie are in the book; but, they are not in the same place or time as in the book.

In the book, Mexico was a place which Ennis had heard some things about and I think they were related to homophobia and the fact that queers did get murdered for whom they were, just like what they did to queers in Wyoming when he was 9 years old.

But, in the movie, Ennis had heard that Mexico was a place where (queer) "boys like (Jack)" went to get sex whenever they wanted it.

Mexico in the book means one thing to me and in the Movie, Mexico is something altogether different.

[proulxfan]

TJ,

Interesting differentiation, and not one that I had thought much about. But in reading the story, I took it literally and assumed that Jack had had dalliances in Mexico. In your interpretation, is this then just a code word for Jack having sex with other men?

[TJ]

TJ,

Interesting differentiation, and not one that I had thought much about. But in reading the story, I took it literally and assumed that Jack had had dalliances in Mexico. In your interpretation, is this then just a code word for Jack having sex with other men?

IMO, as a person who had two college classes which were related to literary criticism, I would say that "Mexico" is just a code word for "sexual encounters with guys other than with Ennis." It has been so long since I had those courses that I have forgotten some of the terminology used in them.

It was almost like Jack felt that Ennis was accusing of him committing same-sex adultery outside of their relationship.

The truth was that besides their lying in their final time together, they were not communicating very well in understanding what each other meant when they were talking.

Ennis did not always say exactly what he meant at times.

Here's a quote from that last time together:

"I got a say this to you one time, Jack, and I ain't foolin. What I don't know," said Ennis, "all them things I don't know could get you killed if I should come to know them."

Did he really threaten to kill Jack if he as cheating on him and he found out? Or did he feel that by the time he found out for certain that Jack actually did those things, Jack would have been killed by another person? I think it was the latter. It was almost Ennis was expecting it to happen to Jack and that is why he jumped to conclusions twice about "the tire iron."

[Patriot1]

But seriously, I hope you yet find the partner with whom you can share the kind of relationship you allude to here.

Nope, never will happen.  For 43 years I have been safe inside my little shell.  Stepping outside for even a second can cause pain, and not only for myself either. Never realized how lonely I was until, for the first time, I joined a forum to talk about a movie that had such a strong affect on me. I discovered a lot of wonderful people; people I have difficulty communicating with because for 43 years the only person I ever talked to was me.

Unless you know of someone looking for a hard and crusty old curmudgeon.   

 

[proulxfan]

"Did he really threaten to kill Jack if he as cheating on him and he found out? Or did he feel that by the time he found out for certain that Jack actually did those things, Jack would have been killed by another person? I think it was the latter. It was almost Ennis was expecting it to happen to Jack and that is why he jumped to conclusions twice about "the tire iron."'

My reservations with that interpretation, at least with respect to the film: the body language and the barely repressed fury in Ennis's voice when he says this, and the word "if", not "when" or "by the time". "If" seems to imply a cause and effect relationship.

I also didn't think Ennis was lying in his reference to " putting the blocks" to Cassie. I don't see where you get that he is lying. As for Jack, I think I may start a thread on "pronoun switching" as a time honored tradition among closeted gays. 

[Jack del Sur]

Jack looks for sex because he is deeply sad, all his hopes has gone.

As Ennis has not excuses to refuse to live together, he realizes that all those years he was waiting for him, it was for nothing.

He acts in a compulsive way. he is out of control. This scene impressed me a lot, because it is telling us the beginging of the end.

[TJ]

"Did he really threaten to kill Jack if he as cheating on him and he found out? Or did he feel that by the time he found out for certain that Jack actually did those things, Jack would have been killed by another person? I think it was the latter. It was almost Ennis was expecting it to happen to Jack and that is why he jumped to conclusions twice about "the tire iron."'

My reservations with that interpretation, at least with respect to the film: the body language and the barely repressed fury in Ennis's voice when he says this, and the word "if", not "when" or "by the time". "If" seems to imply a cause and effect relationship.

I also didn't think Ennis was lying in his reference to " putting the blocks" to Cassie. I don't see where you get that he is lying. As for Jack, I think I may start a thread on "pronoun switching" as a time honored tradition among closeted gays. 

I realize that you are one of the folks who consider homosexual to be equal with gay and give both words the same definition; but, IMO my stick-in-the-mud, fuddy-duddy, educated-somewhat-about human sexuality and psychology study experience, there is no such thing as "closeted gay." There are no happy people in the homosexual closet.

The problem here is also the fact that were are discussing an aspect of both "The Movie & Story" with the sub category being "Characters, Quotes & Scenes with a sub-sub category of "The Significance of Mexico." What was not detailed as fact in the book, "Mexico," was made into a scene in the Movie.

In their last time together, they were telling each other truth and lies. Now what was the truth and what were the lies? IMO, the lies were the woman who worked in a bar, the rancher's wife in Texas and that led to another lie which turned out to be Mexico in the last hour they were together.

While I would like to ask the author, Ms. Annie Proux, about a lot of her unanswered questions in the story, I seriously doubt that will happen. Some people who are just as educated as I have and have actually written real published articles about her story have said that instead of answering Ms. Proulx's questions about Ennis and his relationship with Jack, the screenplay and the movie brought up even more unanswered questions.

[welshwitch]

I took Mexico to mean a place where, they had heard, same-sex sex was available/tolerated. I also think Jack was so devastated by Jack's behaviour, and perhaps aware of how much too much he had presumed after hearing that Ennis was divorced, that the trip to Mexico represented an attempt to get back at him - "You hurt me, now I'm going to hurt you". Illogical, certainly, but people in love don't always behave rationally. and maybe Jack needed physical contact - his marriage was a shell, and the desperation in that embrace with Ennis when he arives is obvious.
An sex, with anyone, can be a means of obliterating thought, even for a short time - Jack wanted a mindless escape, I think.
As for " could get you killed", Ennis's father had shown him someone whose lifestyle had got him killed - this had clearly made an indelible impression and was something Ennis could never get over, hence his revulsion at himself and inability to commit to Jack.

[Patriot1]

"Did he really threaten to kill Jack if he as cheating on him and he found out? Or did he feel that by the time he found out for certain that Jack actually did those things, Jack would have been killed by another person? I think it was the latter. It was almost Ennis was expecting it to happen to Jack and that is why he jumped to conclusions twice about "the tire iron."'

But Jack seemed to think Ennis threatened to kill him.  Jack said, "Measure the f**kin' short leash you keep me on, then ask me about Mexico and tell me you'll kill me for needin' somethin' I don't hardly never get."

What was the second time Ennis jumped to conclusions about "the tire iron" ?

[NoReins]

But Jack seemed to think Ennis threatened to kill him.  Jack said, "Measure the f**kin' short leash you keep me on, then ask me about Mexico and tell me you'll kill me for needin' somethin' I don't hardly never get."

What was the second time Ennis jumped to conclusions about "the tire iron" ?

Yeah, I agree with that - Jack did seem to think that Ennis had threatened him. I found it a bit strange that he would think that, though - I mean, we all know Ennis has never said how he feels about Jack but he's shown it often enough (even just the night before this confrontation, sleeping with his arm round Jack). Surely Jack couldn't possibly believe that Ennis would kill him?

As for the tire iron question - I have no idea either. Anyone?

[Patriot1]

I can only repeat what I have said before.

Yeah, I agree with that - Jack did seem to think that Ennis had threatened him. I found it a bit strange that he would think that, though - I mean, we all know Ennis has never said how he feels about Jack but he's shown it often enough (even just the night before this confrontation, sleeping with his arm round Jack). Surely Jack couldn't possibly believe that Ennis would kill him?

When Ennis threatened Jack's life it was the homophobic Ennis speaking.  This was not the Ennis who loved his friend and would do anything for him, including quit jobs so they could be together.  Ennis never for a moment considered having sex with anyone but Jack.  He assumed it was the same with Jack. "I ain't queer." "Me neither."  But when Jack mentions Mexico, in the homophobic Ennis' eyes Jack became one of the, "...boys like you."  And "..boys like you" need to be killed..."I ain't foolin."  So, in essence Ennis was saying to Jack, don't tell me all those things that happen in Mexico, because if I come to know all those things, you could end up dead.  As long as it was Jack and Ennis that was fine, it was nobody's business but theirs.  But bring in others and it is no longer a special bond between two men, Ennis suddenly becomes one in a long line of others.  That is not what he gave up everything for.  He accepted the poverty, loss of family, etc. for his special friend, but he wasn't about to be told he was nothing more to Jack than a trick.