Withdrawn
At the beginning of the film, Ennis appears as being withdrawn and extremely shy. He refuses to start a conversation with Jack and seems to avoid even looking at him. The way Ennis is portrayed in the beginning of the film is important because it contrasts with the way he will eventually end up to be and it accentuates his transformation, both physical and emotional.
Bad weather
The weather changes rapidly on the mountain and Jack and Ennis have to deal frequently with storms. While Jack manifests feelings of anxiety when he sees a storm approaching, Ennis is calmer and is slightly fascinated by the bad weather. The way the two men are portrayed to respond to the bad weather is important because it signifies the way they deal with the feelings they considered as being dangerous.
King of the woods
When Ennis gets scared by the bear, the bear is sitting in the river, hunting for fish. The image invoked through this scene is that animals are the real rulers of the woods and humans just intervene with the natural way of things. They do not control nature and they will never be as powerful as the animals inhabiting the woods and they will never be able to acquire the power the animals have.
Dead sheep
After Jack and Ennis have sex for the first time, Ennis returns to the sheep the next day. He sees then for the first time a sheep killed by a wild animal. The image of the dead sheep is important mainly because it appears after Ennis and Jack gave in to their desires. The sheep is used generally in literature to make reference to purity and innocence. The image of the dead sheep suggests that Jack and Ennis are no longer innocent and that they committed a sin that killed their innocence.
