The last paragraph of Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx reads as follows: “There was some 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’ve got to stand it” (55). This paragraph is the perfect melancholy end to a melancholy story. Throughout Brokeback Mountain Annie Proulx rejects strong emotions generally. At least, with regards to the situation Jack and Ennis find themselves in. The reader is presented time and time again with language that suggests that while Ennis is not happy with his current life, he also doesn’t truly wish to change it. Whether it be from fear or what the reader might consider internalized homophobia Ennis is content to live a life in the middle of happiness and sadness.
This emotional state is exemplified in the final paragraph. We find the character attempting to reconcile the “space between what he knew and […] tried to believe” suggesting that while Ennis knows he handled his relationship with Jack poorly, and he has regrets, he also knows that he can’t change the past. That what is done is done, and that he must instead stand the whirlwind of emotions which consume him.
It here where I will potentially coin a third emotion which is discussed in this course, rather than “Queer Joy” or “Queer Anger” Ennis Del Mar exemplifies “Queer Melancholy” an emotional response which exists when one remembers the experience of Queer Joy, and feels Queer Anger yet is unable to do anything about the later or re-encounter the former.
In this Annie Proulx makes strong commentary about Queer Life in the so-called “fly over states.” A life which allows for small moments of Queer Joy, but with no course for retribution when those joys are violently ripped from one’s life.