Narrator and point of view

The short story “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx is a third-person narration, told by an omniscient narrator. The narrator knows the characters’ background, what they think, or feel. This leads to the narrator using a combined point of view.

Most of the story conveys Ennis’s perspective: “Ennis, riding against the wind back to the sheep in the treacherous, drunken light, thought he’d never had such a good time... (p. 36, ll. 21-23); “He didn’t know which way it was, the tire iron or a real accident, blood choking down Jack’s throat and nobody to turn him over.” (p. 46, ll. 8-10)

However, the narrator also gives readers a glimpse of Jack’s perspective:

What Jack remembered and craved in a way he could neither help nor understand was the tim…