Rita Mae Brown once said, “I think the reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself.” What she meant by this was that defining that society should not define you, and explaining that you’re often driven to despair if you conform to the societal norms. Annie Proulx’s novel, Brokeback Mountain and Andre Dubus’ The Fat Girl proves this concept by portraying the protagonists as characters who are despondent throughout their journey and in a constant battle with themselves, trying to avoid the thing they love for an acceptance in society. In Brokeback Mountain, Ennis is portrayed as a perplexed character, unsure of his love for Jack as it is characterized as an iniquitous deed. On the other hand in The Fat Girl, Louise constantly fights an internal battle with herself with conflicted feelings between her love for food and her confidence due to society’s growing repugnance towards people who are overweight. Even though both stories end differently due to both protagonists’ acceptance towards their secrets, the characters are baffled throughout the course of their respective novel and …show more content…
However they know nothing can fill that void and they are often left miserable in the end. In Brokeback Mountain Ennis, married Alma and had children to avoid his need for Jack. Likewise, Louise married Richard because she thought she finally escaped her unhealthy lifestyle and did not eat secretly anymore. Both Ennis and Louise escaped their shameful desires due to societal norms, but both were miserable without the thing they desired. In Brokeback Mountain, Ennis tried to fulfill his void by marrying Alma. “He rolled her over, did quickly what she hated” (Proulx, 19). However, he was never happier than he was when he was with Jack. Describing that he loved having sex with Jack, and that he missed him when he was gone, Ennis