Ennis Del Mar - Fictional Character History

Fictional Character History

While on a 1963 shepherding job on Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming, Ennis meets and falls in love with rodeo cowboy Jack Twist.

While the two 19-year-old men work on Brokeback Mountain, Ennis is stationed at the base camp while Jack watches the sheep higher on the mountain. They meet only for meals at the base camp, gradually becoming friends. Eventually they switch roles, with Jack taking over duties at base camp and Ennis tending the flock. One night, after the two share a bottle of whiskey, Ennis decides to remain at the base camp overnight instead of returning to the sheep. The weather becomes bitterly cold that night, but Ennis is reluctant to sleep in the same tent as Jack, who insists he join him. That night the men share a brief, intense sexual encounter. During the summer their sexual and emotional relationship deepens.

After the job is finished the two part ways. Ennis marries his fiancée Alma in November 1963 and starts a family, having two daughters. Four years later, Ennis receives a postcard from Jack asking if he wants to meet. The men reunite and their passion rekindles. Jack broaches the subject of creating a life together. Unwilling to leave his family and haunted by a childhood memory of the murder of a suspected homosexual couple in his hometown, Ennis fears that such an arrangement can only end in tragedy. Unable to be open about their relationship, Ennis and Jack settle for infrequent meetings on camping trips.

Over time Ennis' marriage deteriorates. Alma knows about his relationship with Jack, having seen the two men kissing upon their reunion. In 1975 Alma divorces Ennis, taking custody of their two daughters and marrying her former employer. Jack hopes Ennis' divorce will allow them to live together, but Ennis refuses to move away from his children and remains uncomfortable with the idea of living with a man. Ennis dates waitress Cassie Cartwright. The relationship fails when Ennis stops communicating with her. On a 1983 trip with Jack, Ennis insists that to keep his job, he cannot meet with Jack again before November. Ennis and Jack's frustrations finally erupt into an argument, the struggle becoming a desperate embrace. The two men part upset.

Months later, a postcard Ennis sent to Jack is returned to the post office, stamped "deceased". During a phonecall, Jack's wife Lureen tells Ennis that Jack died while changing a tire. While she explains what happened, Ennis imagines Jack being beaten to death. Lureen tells Ennis that Jack wished to have his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain. She suggests that Ennis contact Jack's parents.

Ennis visits Jack's parents and offers to take Jack's ashes to Brokeback Mountain. Jack's father insists that Jack's remains be buried in the family plot. He also tells Ennis that Jack wanted to bring another man back to his parents' ranch so they could revitalize the ranch. Jack's mother allows Ennis to see Jack's boyhood bedroom. While in the room, Ennis discovers two old shirts hidden in the back of the closet. The shirts, hung one inside the other on the same hanger, are the ones the two men were wearing on their last day on Brokeback Mountain in 1963. Ennis takes the now rolled-up shirts with him; Jack's mother silently offers him a paper sack to put them in.

Alma Jr. visits Ennis at his home, a trailer by the highway. She is preparing to marry and asks for her father's blessing. Though initially reluctant to attend the wedding, Ennis agrees. Ennis asks if her fiance loves her, and she affirms that he does.

After Alma Jr. leaves, Ennis opens his own closet to reveal that he has hung the shirts inside the door beneath a postcard of Brokeback Mountain. With tears in his eyes, Ennis mutters, "Jack, I swear..."