Something interesting about Brokeback Mountain is the aspect of the protagonists as fathers. Ennis is a proud father and obviously takes it importantly. In the fireworks scene, he gets up and fights the punks because they’re being vulgar in front of his daughters. When, after the divorce, Jack comes visit, Ennis turns him away in favor of spending time with his daughters. And at the end of the film, this man, whose job was important enough throughout the film to make him abandon his wife in the past, willingly risks his job to attend his daughter’s wedding. This isn’t because he’s excited to see her married, but only because it will make her happy.

This contrasts with some of his scenes with his children before the divorce. He drops his kids with his wife when he gets called in to work. He also seems really annoyed when they’re very young and willing to pass off responsibility of them. As his relationship with Jack developed, and as he aged and matured, Ennis realized how important being a good father is to him and his children. This is likely incentivised by his own father’s rough treatment of him, showing him the lynched homosexual when Ennis was a child. It is a masculine thing to aspire to be a better father than your own, and Ennis’ masculinity is important to him.

Jack, on the other hand, has very little time on screen with his son. His main fatherly moment is the Thanksgiving scene in which he tells his son to listen to his mother. This seems more out of respect for his wife and whatever little pride he has as a homeowner than any great aspirations to be a good father. This goes along with a point I made in class about Jack being the more feminine of the pair.