Ulysses Everett In The Odyssey

In the screenplay, O Brother Where Art Thou by the Coen Brothers, Everett is originally depicted as an egocentric individual who cares more about his own image than the wellbeing of his friends. His self- absorbed attitude is a direct comparison to Odysseus in the book The Odyssey by Homer, who is presented as self- centered for getting his men into trouble and leading many to death. While at the same time portrays his cleverness and his ability to think fast in a time of turmoil. Throughout the journey Everett transforms from being selfish to being a leader who genuinely cares about his companions Pete and Delmar, by using his quick-witted intelligence to save them from harm.

Ulysses Everett is seen by the audience as a suave and smooth talking

Odysseus is very self-conscious about the way people perceive him. He wants people near and far to know his name and he wants the fame and recognition he believes he deserves. Along the way home Odysseus performs daring feats and lets his ego get in the way of his mind, and makes bold decisions which gets dozens of his men slaughtered. Odysseus and Everett are exceedingly similar. They both are leaders who put their personal aspirations ahead of the men who are serving right alongside them. Both characters lack mental strength to make the choice to keep the group safe which constantly puts them in sticky situations either resulting in death or close encounters with the police. In The Odyssey while Odysseus and his men are beached on the Island of The Kyklops Polymetheus, Odysseus puts his own desires before the needs of the group. “my men came pressing around me pleading take the cheeses, and make a run for it. Yet I refused. I wished to see the caveman, what he had to offer-.” (Book IX. ll, 242-250). Odysseus makes the decision to stay and explore what the island has to offer for himself, and this turns out to be a horrible leadership decision on Odysseus’s part because it results in the loss of several of his men. Odysseus allowed his ego and his pride to get in the way of his clear mind to make a careful decision. Like Everett in O Brother

This shows that deep down beyond all of his insecurities and the lies that he told Pete and Delmar to get them to help him escape, he does genuinely care about them and their safety. After Pete and Delmar find out that there is no treasure and that Everett only convinced them to escape because his wife was remarrying, he decides to change his ways and live a more selfless life to help Pete and Delmar escape and stay out of danger. Everett demonstrates his newfound loyalty towards his friends when Tommy is captured by the KKK and is brought to the clan rally to be hung. Everett’s decision to risk his life to go in the rally and attempt to rescue Tommy shows his selfish nature had been put to bed. This is similar to The Odyssey when Odysseus has to make the hard decision when sailing near the Scylla and Khayrbdis to sail in the right direction to save his men and get them through the danger relatively safely. He made the hard choice he made to sail nearest to Scylla knowing that six of his men will be sacrificed, rather than head through Khayrbdis and risk the entire ship being destroyed, resulting in the death of everyone on board. This shows tremendous leadership and fearlessness to risk