Last Scene ("I swear" scene)

[smartmate]

After Elma Jr. left
Ennis openned the closet door and looked at the hanged shirts and also the postcard of the Brokeback Mountain views and said "Jack, I swear..."
This would mean Ennis swears after he dies he will put his ashes at the Brokeback Mountain with Jack's, as Jack wished it. 

[Sandy]

Welcome smartmate to our shared obsession.

Your interpretation of "Jack, I swear" is emotionally compelling. However, Jack's father never gave Ennis any of Jack's ashes, so he didn't have any to bury on BBM.

See you on the threads.

Sandy

[andy]

  Hello --

Ennis will always be plagued by extreme guilt, missed opportunities, regrets, mistakes, love and longing for Jack. 
The "Jack, I swear..." is a very sad statement of "if I could only go back...it'd all be different for us; we'd never leave each other, never", etc., etc.
I've always thought he will never be able to "stand it" and will go on to self-destruction; maybe I'll give him a couple of years, but ...the self-destruction will come.  So so sad.   

kathy

So are you saying that Ennis is swearing to fade away and die, kathy?

[kathy]

So are you saying that Ennis is swearing to fade away and die, kathy?

No, Andy. 

First, I still believe & adhere to my post above which you included in your post, with no change to it at all.

Second, Ennis' self-destructive tendencies are shown in the film, e.g. at the 4th of July picnic in a fight with those loud and obscene motorcycle guys;  picking a fight with a guy in the truck after that awful Thanksgiving day at Alma's.  He is so unhappy away from Jack.  He is so tormented by his love and feelings for Jack - he loves him and does want to be with him; I've always felt this - but the trauma of seeing Earl's dead body in the ditch traumatizes him for life.   He was only nine yrs. old, a little boy, and his daddy takes him and his brother to witness this scene!  No wonder he is so fearful for Jack and himself.  I'm not saying I agree with his actions; the perfect story would be E&J together.  But the story is a tragedy and it's not going to end this way.  Both men are tragic figures.

I think Ennis will not give a damn what happens to him after Jack is gone.  What he has always lived for and his only happiness for 20 years - Jack and their meetings - are gone.  He'd do anything to 'go back'; change what happened in their lives together but this one can't be fixed.  The sadness & guilt will always be in his mind and heart; that won't change.  The self-destruction will ultimately win out.

kathy

[andy]

Thanks for such a detailed response kathy. Whilst I see where you're coming from, I just don't see it that way. Though cut up about the complete cock-up he made of things and full of remorse after Jack's death, I don't see any of the giving up you speak of in this last scene of the story. If anything, I see a sort of resurgence of the stoicism that had him say earlier, if you can't fix it etc. I see a resigned Ennis, and one who has a new perspective on life that had him show concern that the man his daughter wants to marry should love her. I see a man that is in shock with the realisation that he'd made the biggest mistake with Jack but that there was absolutely nothing he could now do about it. I don't see a man who would waste his time giving up because life had kicked him in the balls so. I see a tougher man than that.

But how neat that out of this final scene we can all take away our own interpretation of the man and the outcome of what must have been to him the most tragic  life-choices. Even he has come to see that, I believe.

[Marge_Innavera]

Your interpretation of "Jack, I swear" is emotionally compelling. However, Jack's father never gave Ennis any of Jack's ashes, so he didn't have any to bury on BBM.

However, he'd have the opportunity later if Jack's mother outlives his dad.

[AZ.bbm]

Great writin', y'all..

<continues 'lurking'>

[Sandy]

However, he'd have the opportunity later if Jack's mother outlives his dad.

True, but it would involve a disinterment of the urn of ashes, unless they were scattered on the plot. My guess is that neither option is really available to Ennis.

[kathy]

Thanks for such a detailed response kathy. Whilst I see where you're coming from, I just don't see it that way. Though cut up about the complete cock-up he made of things and full of remorse after Jack's death, I don't see any of the giving up you speak of in this last scene of the story. If anything, I see a sort of resurgence of the stoicism that had him say earlier, if you can't fix it etc. I see a resigned Ennis, and one who has a new perspective on life that had him show concern that the man his daughter wants to marry should love her. I see a man that is in shock with the realisation that he'd made the biggest mistake with Jack but that there was absolutely nothing he could now do about it. I don't see a man who would waste his time giving up because life had kicked him in the balls so. I see a tougher man than that.

But how neat that out of this final scene we can all take away our own interpretation of the man and the outcome of what must have been to him the most tragic  life-choices. Even he has come to see that, I believe.

Hi andy:

I get your point(s) too.

Though we may differ in our opinions, it is wonderful that out of that heartbreaking final scene (and the entire classic film) we take away our own interpretations.

kathy   

[Marge_Innavera]

True, but it would involve a disinterment of the urn of ashes, unless they were scattered on the plot. My guess is that neither option is really available to Ennis.

Probably he'd get just the ashes that were sent home for the family plot, but I'd bet that Jack's mother would decide to honor his wishes.  Can't imagine Ennis refusing to do it.

[Sandy]

I'm assuming that OMT had buried the ashes in the family plot or scattered them, certainly no later than shortly after Ennis's visit to LF. I believe that they are not available to Ennis without disinterment.

[Marge_Innavera]

Believe what you like, since nothing is said about that in either the film or ss.

[Sandy]

Nor is anything said about OMT putting an urn of ashes on the mantelpiece. "They're going in the ground." Ennis's access to the ashes is cut off, and nothing in the story contradicts that.

[Cally]

I'm not adding to this discussion, but it sent me back to the end of the story, and it just struck me what a consummate little paragraph this is:
When [the postcard] came - thirty cents - he pinned it up in his trailer, brass-headed tack in each corner. Below it he drove a nail and on the nail he hung the wire hanger and the two old shirts suspended from it. He stepped back and looked at the ensemble through a few stinging tears.
“The ensemble”, described in a few stark words, contains the whole story; no long descriptions of the scene or emotions, just the ‘few stinging tears’. Perfect.

And then, of course, the enigmatic “I swear”.....

[Marge_Innavera]

Nor is anything said about OMT putting an urn of ashes on the mantelpiece. "They're going in the ground." Ennis's access to the ashes is cut off, and nothing in the story contradicts that.

Right. When ashes "go in the ground", the people who have done the cremation put them in an urn or other receptacle.  It isn't a common practice to open the container and dump it in a hole; the container is opened when ashes are scattered but when they "go in the ground", it's a burial.  It's possible that Jack's father would have done the former but in view of our having no knowledge of any primitive tribes in northeast Wyoming who do that, it's more likely that the urn was just buried in the usual way.

But believe whatever you wish, apparently it has some importance to you.