In the unforgiving austerity of the Wyoming plains, two men, freed from the confines of society, find love in a time and place where their passion has disastrous consequences. In the short story "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx, the main character, Ennis Del Mar, is an orphan who dropped out of high school to make a living as a ranch hand. She falls in love with Jack Twist, a more gregarious and lively man whose "ideas... never come to fruition." The two love each other intensely and always remember the season they spent together on Brokeback Mountain while working for a cattle rancher. Years later, when Ennis learns that Jack is dead, his heart breaks and he constantly dreams of the days and nights when he and Jack were together. While the plot itself is thought-provoking, the techniques Proulx uses help create a deeply emotional and touching story in just a few short pages. Short stories are different from novels, and each author has their own way of creating the most complete story in a limited number of pages. Wallace Stegner, author of the novels Angle of Repose and Big Rock Candy Mountain, as well as several short story collections, believed that all well-written short stories have similar properties. Proulx uses Stegner's properties, as well as other literary devices including point of view and setting, in “Brokeback Mountain” to convey the story's main idea that repression leads to emotional desolation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Annie Proulx wrote “Brokeback Mountain” with a limited third-person point of view so that the reader can emotionally connect and empathize with the main characters, Ennis and Jack. All stories have a point of view, and it is up to the author to decide which character, if any, is the right person to tell the story. Proulx’s limited use of the third person in “Brokeback Mountain” aligns with Stegner’s opinion on perspective: “A good writer is not really a mirror; he is a lens. One mirror is like another, a mechanical reflector, but a lens can [vary]…. Fiction is only as good as its creator. He sees only with the clarity of which he is capable and perpetuates his astigmatisms." Proulx uses Ennis' perspective as a lens and not a mirror because the story is not exclusively about Ennis' life, but explores the lives of others, particularly Jack. If the point of view were a mirror, there would be no mention of what Jack is doing and it would only be a reflection of Ennis' thoughts. This literary technique also reinforces Proulx's point that both Jack and Ennis are victims of their own repressed emotions. There are only a few moments in the story where the story isn't told through Ennis. This occurs when Ennis' point of view alone cannot provide the reader with important information about the characters and the point of view changes. When Jack and Ennis first express physical interest in each other, they are nervous and insecure because they know their society would not accept them as lovers. Ennis' insecurity about his feelings for Jack confuses him, and Proulx shifts the point of view to third-person omniscient to allow the reader to more fully understand what is happening in the story between Jack and Ennis. The first time the reader sees beyond what Ennis does is when he learns that their boss, Joe Aguirre, is watching them have sex, "They (Jack and Ennis) thought themselves invisible, not knowing that Joe Aguirre had been watching them through the his 10×42 binoculars for ten minutes a day” (6). While Jack and Ennis believe they are hidden in the mountains, out of sight ofwhoever, the reader knows this isn't true and the seeds of fear that something bad is coming are planted. This is an example of Jack and Ennis' innocence as they have no control over where they come from, the time they were born in, and their sexuality. If a few words could summarize the tragic relationship of these characters as follows: "they believed they were invisible". “Invisible” implies that they wanted to disappear and this is most likely due to societal pressure to be heterosexual, or at least not homosexual. Invisible is an ironic word to choose when explaining their relationship since at the end of the story it is implied that Jack's death occurred because of his sexuality. Jack and Ennis unconsciously choose to be unaware of their apparent love and desire for each other. Since the story is limited to Ennis' feelings, the reader better understands that he and Jack are in denial about their sexuality, “'I'm not queer at all,' and Jack interjected with 'Me neither. A unique thing. It's nobody's business but ours” (6). They love each other so passionately, but where they thought they were safest, on Brokeback Mountain, they were actually the most exposed, as Joe watches them. The fact that the story is told in the omnipresent third person allows the reader to glean some of Ennis' most intimate thoughts. However, it is not only thoughts that the reader understands, but also his emotions. While this is an example of how Proulx's technique of using point of view aligns with Stegner's idea of ​​a narrative, it also contributes to the main idea of ​​the passage. Their time together on Brokeback Mountain had to end, but Ennis couldn't have foreseen the sorrow and pain he'll feel when the two men part ways. “Within a mile Ennis felt like someone was pulling his guts out… He stopped on the side of the road and, in the fresh, swirling snow, tried to vomit but nothing came out. He felt worse than ever and it took a long time for the feeling to wear off” (8). Although his pain seems only physical, it is also emotional. If the story were told from another point of view, it would only suggest that Ennis is suffering; the depth of his pain would not have been communicated as well. The reader would not have known that the relationship was not entirely sexual if it had simply reflected the men's lives like a mirror. When Proulx writes, “He felt as bad as he had ever felt,” the reader not only sees his pain, but also feels it. Ennis has a strong character and the typical American idea of ​​what a cowboy is. He's been beaten, starved, and greets death as if it were a friend, but the fact that he breaks down as he watches his partner leave is both heartbreaking and revealing of his true character. Empathizing with Ennis and understanding how powerless he is against his wishes was one of Proulx's goals. According to Stegner, “a lens can vary” and in “Brokeback Mountain” the reader understands and witnesses who Ennis truly is through this lens. The reader discovers that Ennis is not only repressed by society, but also rejects his own desires by isolating himself from the only person who truly matters to him: Jack. Setting is used to describe the physicality of a scene. “Brokeback Mountain” is set in Wyoming, where the vastness of the landscape creates distance between people physically, but not socially. The setting can also be the time period and because Proulx wrote this story over the course of twenty years, the reader has a better understanding of the emotional pain that Ennis went through. Proulx could easily have written a shorter, more compact story about the relationship between Jack and Ennis during their time together as sheep herders, but instead he decided touse a more complex method. The physical setting of Wyoming and how it transforms from plains to high mountains and cliffs represents the secret relationship and life of Jack and Ennis. This symbol is never clearly stated or discussed, but this supports the theory that Proulx's tale follows Stegner's idea of ​​what makes a truly great tale. Stegner states: "I wanted the fictions to be recognizable and true to ordinary perception... and I thought I could better achieve this with a direct and unbiased method." In other words, Stegner does not like the excessive use of gimmicks literary because they tend to cloud and obstruct the reader's focus. However, because the story does not rely on the symbol and because it is one of the few symbols used by Proulx, Stegner's theory aligns with “Brokeback Mountain.” time spent in Brokeback, he believes those days were the most perfect days of his life. After Jack tries to convince Ennis to run away with him, he thinks to himself, "What Jack remembered and wanted in a way he didn't. he could neither help nor understand it was the time of that distant summer in Brokeback when Ennis had come up behind him and pulled him out. close, the silent embrace that satisfies a shared and asexual hunger” (20). Both Jack and Ennis were free from expectations in the mountains and could satisfy their “hunger without sex.” However, later in the story, when Ennis marries a woman named Alma, their sex is very different than in Brokeback Mountain, "sliding (Ennis's) hand into the sleeve of her (Alma's) blouse and shaking the silky hairs of her armpits, then lowering her" , his fingers moved along her ribs to her gelatinous breast, over her round belly and knee... and he rolled her over, quickly did what she hated" (8). Much like Ennis' life, his sex is emotionless and lifeless. The physical setting of these scenes reflects Ennis' life and how the plains of Wyoming are very different from the towering mountains where he feels truly free with both Jack and himself. Time setting is another critical aspect of a story and can significantly change the quality of the literature. Stegner states: "Neither [fiction nor autobiography] should be wrapped in any straitjacket of method... The art of narrative, in which I include autobiography, involves asking that question in a plausible context of order" . “Brokeback Mountain” takes place over the course of twenty years, which highlights the strength of the relationship between Jack and Ennis. Proulx could easily have written a twenty-page short story that takes place over several months; however, the length of the story accords with both Stegner's idea of ​​what a well-written narrative is and the overall theme of “Brokeback Mountain.” The story ends tragically when Ennis questions his choices and wonders why he didn't give in to his desire to run away with Jack. Instead, Ennis lives an unfulfilling life because he is not true to his sexuality. In the final line of the story, he reflects on his life: "There was an open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it, you have to put up with it" ( 26).Ennis marries a woman he doesn't love, has daughters when he wanted sons, and most importantly, can't spend the rest of his life with Jack nothing for his mistakes and has to live with them. The reader can assume that Ennis never finds a love as strong and passionate as the one he feels for Jack as he is never happy without him in his life. Ennis rejects who he is himself as a person and consequently is forced to live the rest,, 41(2), 153-176.