A Timeless Struggle in Brokeback Mountain Essay -- Brokeback Mountain

indite Isaac Asimov once wrote, Never let your sense of cleans prevent you from doing whats right. This verbalise came to mind while reading both Montana 1948 and Brokeback Mountain. The authors, Larry Watson (Montana 1948) and Annie Proulx (Brokeback Mountain) both spare stories with the internal conflict of man vs. himself. In Montana 1948 Larry Watsons important characters the Hayden family cope with a situation of sexual abuse that forces them to search for their example base and choose between right and wrong. Each member of the family begins at a different in their chaste expedition, but eventually annul up with the same internal resolution. Similarly, in Annie Proulxs Brokeback Mountain, the author sketches a picture of two workforce who get it on in a perpetual struggle with their ideas of deterrent exampleity. Rationalizing and avoidance exist as Jack Twist and Ennis Del perverts chief(prenominal) internal defense mechanisms. Proulx presents a devastating doma in of Jack and Ennis subsequent struggle with both their families and their work as they castigate to come to terms with their sexual relationship. To begin in this examination of the moral code of the American West, we turn to the relationships and struggles brought about in Larry Watsons newfangled Montana 1948. In this novel, there exists conflicts between several of the characters, however the main conflict lies within the characters themselves. The reader sees the Hayden family struggle with the realization that the town doctor, their relative, has been molesting childlike Indian girls. This situation forces Wes Hayden, the towns sheriff and the doctors all brother, to choose his actions towards this ethical dilemma carefully. He deliberates on his situation end-to-end most of the novel, relying on his wifes set-in-stone morals to guide his finish in some ways. Through this interaction, the reader sees that some people who were non brought up with a strong moral code mus t augment one for themselves, while others who were taught their morals at an early age whitethorn alter them to fit their own perspectives as they grow. Also, noted very plainly, the moral code of the American West did not exist as mate to todays code. The characters in this novel existed in what they believed to be a moral society, but by todays standards it was amoral, devoid of moral standards. Watson brings this idea to life when he writes through the narrators voice,... ... that their oddity was immoral. Thus we see two novels whose characters deal with an internal struggle. Both the characters in Montana 1948 and those in Brokeback Mountain struggle with their set of morals in situations that can change their lives forever. In Montana 1948 Wes Hayden faces a situation that whitethorn estrange his family or estrange himself from his moral base. He eventually chooses to be true to himself, in arresting his only brother for molestation and murder. However, in Brokeback Mount ain the cowboys, Jack and Ennis, must hide their relationship because of its immoral content. Thus, they live a life hiding from their true feelings. At some propagation they even trying to deny their nature. Because of the threat of being ostracized and possible killed, these men led a life separate from their love for one another. Though, in the end their prejudice, along with every one elses killed Jack. Ennis knows this and the only break through that they have left is Brokeback Mountain, a place untouched by the world, futile to be soiled with prejudices. Work CitedProulx, Annie. Brokeback Mountain. Close Range Wyoming Stories. New York Scribner, 1999. 251-82. Print.