The Luck of the Irish

“He spoke enthusiastically. ‘And that’s not countin what I maybe can pick up in wolf bounties. Possible another hundred. Enough to git us started. I’m thinkin horses, raise horses. Folks always need horses. I’ll quit this feller’s ranch after a year an git back here.’” (61)

Archie and Rose are a young married couple trying to make successful lives for themselves. However, they have had a rough start as Archie was orphaned at a young age, and Rose’s mother is ill and her father has a drinking problem. Archie was born to Irish immigrants, and it is suggested that Rose is of immigrant descent as her wedding present from her mother was “a large silver spoon that had come across the Atlantic” (48,49). Archie inherits money from Mrs. Peck, a widow who raised him after his parents died. He uses this money to buy some land, and is “thrilled to be a landowner” (50). After being laid off by Bunk Peck, Archie travels to Cheyenne in search of work. He finds a good paying job, but will require him to be absent from the birth of his son. Consequently, Rose goes into labor early and is forced to give birth alone. Both the baby and Rose do not survive. Archie also faces difficulties while he is away. He comes down with pneumonia, and it is not known if he survives.

Does Archie’s (and possibly Rose’s) immigrant heritage effect their outcome? Had they not been born to immigrants would they have been better able to succeed?

The Wilderness of Reality

"There was no way to know what had happened. The more he thought about Archie the more he remembered the clear, hard voice and the singing. He thought about Gold Dust's rampant vigor and rich fur, about the sleek weasel at the McLaverty cabin. Some lived and some died, and that's how it was." (77)

Struggles of survival and domination are prevalent throughout "Them Old Cowboy Songs," primarily in the lives of Archie and Rose. As Archie attempts to withstand the harsh conditions of life as a cowboy, Rose endures her pregnancy in extreme conditions of heat and cold, both in some state of isolation. Proulx equalizes humans and animals, demonstrating the perseverance of reality over ideals. Social life, ranching life, and especially the life of a woman are all struggles to defeat the dangers of some form of death, literal or metaphorical. There are several instances in the piece where characters are given animal-like qualities, such as when Mr. Dorgan "gnawed at his untrimmed mustache" after Mrs. Dorgan asserts her dominance as the founder of his political life, and therefore his dependence on her, in order to survive as a "genteel specimen of womanhood." (75) As Rose attempts to preserve her idealistic vision of a happy family, she is confronted with a life that "reeked of desertion and betrayal" (61) that eventually ends in her death, and the death of her ideal. Rose buries her child in an "ancient rage" (65) with the silver spoon that symbolized the promise of riches and happiness for ancestors coming to America. Her rage is primitive and animalistic, as she attempts to maintain her womanly pride by concealing the "horror" (66) of her failure as a woman to bear a child. Instead of feeding her baby with the silver spoon of prosperity, she uses it to bury the infant that is eventually devoured by the cruel and indiscriminate jaws of the wild. Proulx works to emphasize the indifferent nature of reality of life, and its ability to destroy the isolated stragglers, or those without the determination and strength to survive its challenges.

Throughout the story, the women mentioned fall victim to some consequence of a man's mistake. Rose dies because there was no one there to assist her in childbirth as Archie promised, her mother is sick with only a drunken husband for support and care, and Mrs. Dorgan's reputation is threatened by the false claims of the telegraph operator. Is Proulx claiming women are in a constant state of self-preservation because of the irresponsibility of the men in their lives, and that because of this hardship they are stronger in their will and resilience?

how it was

"She seemed unaware that she lived in a time when love killed women" (55). 

In thinking about our theme of region, it seems there is no room for love to take root on the American frontier in Proulx's "Them Old Cowboy Songs."  Despite Rose's efforts to fight against the hardening effects of pioneer life, she and Archie quickly "[shift] out of days of clutching love and into the long haul of married life" (57).  But this haul proves too heavy to carry.  Even Archie feels the pain brought on by love.  He feels "like [he has] been shot" after Rose asserts her sexual desire for her husband.  Strangers, too, are privy to the inappropriateness of love on the frontier.  Sink, who knows little about Archie's home life, portends Archie's "life already too complicated to live" (67).  And indeed it is.  Rose's failed pregnancy and Archie's work-induced illness are unsuccessful attempts to improve their married life on the frontier.  Eventually, their efforts end in their deaths.  But in the end, no one cares: "Some lived and some died, and that's how it was" (77).

What does the frontier's rejection of love reveal about the region and its role in the lives of those old cowboys in this story?

Youth

"An older woman would have seen that although they were little more than children, they were shifting out of the days of clutching love and into the long haul of married life.
'Cows cost money, specially butter and cream does. We ain't got enough for a butter dish even....'Missus McLaverty, I wouldn't work in no mine. You married you a cowboy'" - pg. 57

In the first part of this section, Archie is dreaming of a better, impractical life, complete with a spring and a butter cow when, as Rose points out, the couple doesn't even have the money for a butter dish. The second part of this passage illustrates Archie's idealism and determination to be a cowboy and find ranch work, much like Ennis and Jack in Brokeback Mountain. This story seems another one of Proulx's western parables, and once again, she seems interested in the topic of idealism. If Archie hadn't been so insistent on being a "cowboy" and so resistant to working closer to home in a mine, perhaps their love would have survived, perhaps they would have survived? Yet, so as not to beat the topic of idealism in Proulx's stories to death, this story has an ingredient that 'Brokeback Mountain' does not; youth. Archie and Rose were an incredibly young couple, and this arguably led to several of their struggles and indirectly caused their death in the stories.

What role did youth play in Archie and Rosie's idealism, romance, and interactions with nature?

Foreshadowed Singing

"Archie McLaverty had a singing voice that once heard was never forgotten. It was a straight, hard voice, the words falling out halfway between a shout and a song. Sad and flat and without ornamentation, it expressed things felt but unsayable" (49).

I found the way Archie sang while on his land to be particularly important in this story because his voice so closely echoes his life and land. The way that Proulx describes his singing as "straight," "hard," and "flat" are particular adjectives that reflect more on his land than possibly his singing. Proulx doesn't really describe the land other than the immediate surroundings of their cabin and the nearby mountain. Using these words to describe Archie's singing voice seems to create a deeper connection between the land and its owner. It even seems to foreshadow his life on his land as being "sad and flat." Sad because his wife and child die while on the land and flat because everything he dreams of doing with the land falls flat with his and his family's death.

Another interesting word choice here is how his voice expresses "things felt but unsayable." I really like this because when you apply it to the story, there are a number of things that go unsaid for a long time. When the story switches from Rose to Archie after she has buried her baby, we don't really know what has happened to her, possibly because it was unsayable until Tom discovered her body rapped and murdered by Indians. I found this scenario hard to believe. It seemed more likely that the injurious Tom noted where left over from child birth and she had simply bled out. Either way, Tom only mentions it once and after that he pushes it into the unsayable and remembers Archie and his wife in song.

I wonder if singing to the land in this story is the way the characters express the landscape?

Live Together, Die Alone

"We'll git you down to Cheyenne and you can ride the train a where your mother is, your folks, Rawlins, whatever. Karok says. And he says you are fired. I had a tell him you was married so he would let you loose. He was all set a have you die in the bunkhouse. We'll get a doc, beat this down. It's only pneumony. I had it twice" (71).

In my opinion, Sink ends up being the only redeeming character in this horrific story. Sink goes out of his way to save Archie after he has contracted pneumonia. Other characters, such as the Dorgan's will not even pay attention to Tom Ackler as he tells about Rose's horrific death. The lack of sensitive characters in this story is alarming and contributes to the overall brokenness one is left feeling after reading it. If not for Sink and the contribution he paid in trying to save Archie's life, one might think not a single person is capable of doing good. Even Archie abandons his wife, during her pregnancy and time of need; therefore, Sink's actions are shocking, becuase they greatly contrast those of the other greedy characters.

Do you agree Sink is the only redeeming character or do you think he has an alterior motive by helping Archie?

with brokeback in your rearview mirror

"Dad says, you got to take him unawares, don't say nothin to him, make him feel some pain, get out fast and keep doin it until he takes the message. Nothin like hurtin somebody to make him hear good" (269).

Throughout the story relationships are built on the incommunicable, the violent, and the separation. That is, information is shared or discovered after the fact. These discoveries then result in moments of aggression, violence, and depression. It takes Ennis years to realize why he fell sick to his stomach after parting ways with Jack. Jack gets angry with Ennis for waiting a week before telling him they can't meet up again until November. And Ennis comes to "know" that Jack was killed with a tire iron. Indeed, it seems pain makes these characters "hear good," even if it takes some time.

And so I wonder: what argument do these moments make about the nature of memory in this story?

Desire or Love

“He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly through his mouth and nose, hoping for the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands.” Memory plays an important part in the complex relationship between Ennis and Jack and raises interesting questions about the line between desire and love. When the author writes “there was no real scent, only the memory of it” the author is implying the lack of substance the relationship held giving it the ability to fade away into a mere distant memory. The author leads readers to believe that the love experienced between the two was merely the product of desire and not really love at all. Each encounter, as infrequent and brief as they were, was driven by sexual desire and the memory of each visit kept alive by the remembrance of their shared sexual pleasure. There was never enough time spent together to allow the relationship to grow beyond the first few stages of love; desire and attraction. Thus, the only thing the two had to build the relationship was based on the memory of the sex they shared. Can the relationship shared between Ennis and Jack even be classified as love at its youngest stage or is it the product of sexual obsession?

Love vs. Commitment

"'Listen. I'm thinkin, tell you what, if you and me had a little ranch together, little cow and calf operation, your horses, it'd be some sweet life'...'Whoa, whoa, whoa. It ain't goin be that way. We can't. I'm stuck with what I got, caught in my own loop. Can't get out of it" (pg. 270) "Jack, I got a work. Them earlier days I used a quit the jobs. You got a wife with money, a good job. You forget how it is bein broke all the time...I can't quit this one...You got a better idea?' 'I did once.'" (pg. 277)

That Jack and Ennis were never able to live with each other, or to be together for an extended period of time is one of the biggest conflicts in the story. Both characters were profoundly scared of their attraction to each other and their homosexuality was clearly not on par with their lifestyles and upbringings. However, though they never said it, they loved each other enough to go out of their ways to spend time with one another, and even to quit jobs. Jack and Ennis show far more compassion for one another than they show for any woman throughout the story. And, though their fear is understandable considering their cultural climate, it's clear that the two would have been more happy together than they were apart. Had they lived together, it seems that Jack and Ennis would have had a more fulfilling life.

To keep one's promises and honor one's commitments is admirable, but there are prevailing idea in love stories that 'love conquers all' and that one should 'gamble everything for love.' At what point is abandoning one's commitments(family, career, etc.) for a relationship an acceptable thing to do? Were Jack and Ennis past that point?

Wrong Place, Wrong Time?

                Throughout the story Jack and Ennis struggle with not only accepting their feelings towards each other, but also their public image. Ennis tells Jack about two men who lived and worked a ranch together. One of the men was brutally murdered because of their queer relationship. When discussing a recent embrace with Jack, Ennis says, “You and me can’t hardly be decent together if what happened back there… grabs on us like that. We do that in the wrong place we’ll be dead” (269).

                My question is where is the right place for them to be together? Is it Brokeback Mountain, even though their relationship has been seen there? 

Basic Instincts

             After Jack and Ennis passionately reunite after a four year separation, Jack suggests they dump their families, move in together, get a little ranch and do what they do best. Ennis refuses explicitly and does so by saying

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. It ain't goin a be that way. We can't. I'm stuck with what I got,  caught in my own loop. Can't get out of it...And I don't want a be dead" (270).

         
              In previous stories we have discussed the public nature of relationships and how the success of some relationships depends on public approval and encouragement. Unfortunately, Jack and Ennis's relationship only flourishes in the isolated natural locations they visit. Ironically, the 'unnatural' nature of their relationship in the eyes of the people around them can only grow and take root in pure nature. As we are told in the story, from the 1960s through the 1980s gay men were being killed in a manner paralleling lynching. Ennis's instincts seem privy to this fact and although he loves Jack, he loves breathing a little more. In the lines above, Ennis is explaining 'Survival 101' to Jack. He is explaining how society, not nature, decides the acceptable parameters for the way we should love, copulate, and with whom. The loop of life gives Ennis a guideline to living successfully and it's why he doesn't ask Jack to be with him after his divorce. In fact he has relationships with other women in his town. Society wouldn't allow two men to live together and Ennis knows that if he crosses the boundaries that dictate his life then he will get the tire iron. However, Jack seems more tuned to his natural instincts instead of his societal instincts. We see the consequences of breaching those parameters when Jack doesn't get rehired by Joe Aguirre, Alma finally leaves Ennis, and the eventual death of Jack Twist. Although nature accepts Ennis and Jack for who they are, eventually society decides if it's right.

How are nature and the forces of nature used to illustrate this love story? Why don't Ennis and Jack return to the first place they discovered their love for each other, Brokeback Mountain?

Brutal Love

"Jack, I don't want a be like them guys you see around sometimes. And I don't want a be dead. There was these two old guys ranched together down home, Earl and Rich--Dad would pass a remark when he seen them. They was a joke even though they was pretty touch old birds. I was what, nine years old and they found Earl dead in a irrigation ditch. They'd took a tire iron to him, spurred him up, drug him around by his dick until it pulled off, just bloody pulp. What the tire iron done looked like pieces a burned tomatoes all over him, nose tore down from skiddin on gravel" (270).

When I first read this scene I was struck by how gruesome it was and how gruesome the people who committed this murder must have been, but when I thought about the story as a whole, I was brought back to this scene not only because it is possibly what happened to Jack, but also because it shows the way people looked on gay love at the time. It actually goes a long way in telling the reader exactly how much they were risking in continuing their relationship. Because this story reflects backward in time, this scene does a lot to show the reader how gay love was thought of.

There is an interesting symmetry in the way Jack and Ennis's love for each other and the death they possibly face in continuing to love each other. Because they seem so violent with each other in the bedroom, they therefore must also face a very violent death should the society at large discover their relationship. If their love for each other was not so brutal, but rather passive on one side or both, it would be impossible to believe that they would stay together facing such a gruesome deaths.

In this story, love is always represented in a brutal way. Does this story reflect on society in the fact that love might always be brutal, either emotionally or physically?