O Brother Where Art Thou
Relationships between O Brother Where Art Thou? and The Odyssey
The Coen Brothers’ film O Brother, Where Art Thou? mirrors themes, motifs, and symbols from Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. Both creative works recount the twists and turns of a man’s journey home, and in both, religion plays a pivotal role. In the film the hero, Ulysses first rejects but eventually embraces the Christian religion. In the poem, the hero, Odysseus, stays true to his religion beliefs even when the Greek gods are united against him. Through the use of religious imagery, characters, and song lyrics, the film emphasizes the poem’s conclusion that an individual can achieve personal redemption only through the help of a higher power.
Religious images and symbols that parallel The Odyssey abound in O Brother, Where Art Thou? One religious symbol that is very prominent in both pieces of literature is pride. Pride is related to religion because pride is a sin in many religions. In the movie Ulysses shows his pride by only getting the Dapper Dan pomade instead of getting a different kind like FOP because he thinks that being able to afford the more expensive pomade people will look at him with respect and this is what gives him his pride. Ulysses says to the shop keeper “I don’t want FOP god-damit I’m a Dapper Dan man” (Coen). This shows how Ulysses does not accept any other pomade because he thinks that if he buys anything else people will not respect him as much and he will lose all pride in himself because he thinks he can gain pride by having people think of him as a person who can afford the expensive pleasures in life. In the epic poem The Odyssey the main character, Odysseus, shows his pride just like Ulysses by bragging himself up while he and his men depart the island where Polyphemus lives. While he and his crew heading out to sea away from the island Odysseus, yells out to Polyphemus, “ Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus,...
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