Is O Brother, Where Art Thou? the Modern Odyssey?

A detailed Summary of Is O Brother, Where Art Thou? the Modern Odyssey?

Thesis Statement: What I hope to do in the following paper is compare the entertaining film, O Brother Where Art Thou? (Joel Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, John Turturro, Touchstone/Universal, 2000) to the classic epic The Odyssey (Crowell's Handbook Of Classical Literature, The Odyssey, Lippincott and Crowell Publishers, New York, pgs.268-291, Internet Reviews of the movie). The plots in both selections are very similar even though they occur in two very different time periods. Other similarities that we will explore are the characters and obstacles encountered along the journey.

The film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a Homeric journey through Mississippi during the time of the Depression of the 1930's. This film takes the viewer on the journey of three prisoners who have escaped from jail in the opening scene. The main character Ulysses Everett is looking to reunite with his wife, Penny and their three daughters and assume his position as man of the house. He desperately tries to reach his wife before she remarries. Ulysses would like ideally to go on his journey alone, however due to the fact that he was in a chain gang, he is chained to two other cellmates. He enlists them in his cause by

The last comparisons I'd like to make include some events that copied each other. During both journeys our main characters were faced with antagonists that prohibited them from moving on. In The Odyssey, Odysseus meets up with Polyphemus, the kyklopes on the Island of the Lotus-eaters. Odysseus defeats the son of Poseidon as he blinds him and sails away in his glory. We meet a similar character in O Brother Where Art Thou? The loud mouth character Big Dan Teague, gives the travelers a personal demonstration of his crookedness. He gets in the men's way and acts as another obstacle that they must pass through. One can conclude that the eye patch this country bible salesman wears symbolizes the loss of eyesight that the kyklopes experiences after his battle with Odysseus. A final event that can be matched involves the "washer women" in the film. The escapees come across three women doing their laundry in a river. They are singing while moving in a slowed motion, their effect is supposed to mesmerize and distract these men. Similarly, in The Odyssey when Odysseus' ship approaches the Island of the Sirens, he had to cork his men's ears so they would not become tempted by the sound of the sirens. Both stories use these tones, whether it be ladies voices or loud siren noises, as a symbol of temptation.

The movie's plot resembles The Odyssey: A man is journeying home to his wife and family, hoping he can reach her before his wife gets remarried. We see characters recreated in the film to mimic those in the poem. Character names are changed but still are made obvious for us to connect. Finally, events throug

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Approximate Word count = 1086
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies