Through ‘Brokeback Mountain’, the author Annie Proulx tries to educate her readers on many different issues that haunt the society we currently live in. One of these issues that is in the center of the story is the idea of love and how it is defined in our society. By having two gay men in the epicenter of this story, Proulx openly and distinctly challenges our society’s definition and constraints on love. She explores the idea of forbidden love with the help of the characters Jack and and Ennis. Furthermore, Proulx ties in our society’s emphasis on masculinity into her idea of forbidden live. She purposely chooses the setting and character descriptions of the gay lovers to challenge these stereotypes. Cowboys, who are often displayed as the poster boys of masculinity, are made to be homosexuals in this story. The story even takes place in the extremely conservative state of Wyoming where homosexuality is shunned. Through the events of the story, the author is trying to educate the masses regarding the unfair prejudices that we hold against homosexuality. “You and me can’t hardly be decent together if what happened back there”—he jerked his head in the direction of the apartment—”grabs on us like that. We do that in the wrong place we’ll be dead. There’s no reins on this one. It scares the piss out a me.” (70) By challenging society’s judgmental outlook on love, Proulx is pleading society to divert from it’s harsh and unfair constraints.
Floating thoughts 