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The Coen Brothers film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” is heavily influenced by Homer’s “The Odyssey.” It is a story rife with moral conflict for both the characters to traverse and the audience, in turn, to justify and empathize. With both works existing in a time of changes, symbols and characters are borrowed and reimagined for the Coens to build upon. The path audiences are lead down is one of winding, ambiguous principles to the final destination of redemption.

READ MORE: 25-Minute Video Essay Takes An Odyssey In Style With Coens’ ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ & ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’

In this video essay, Jack’s Movie Reviews tackles this road to redemption by deconstructing the characters’ journey in “O Brother, Where Art Thou.” Everett is not a character with whom we immediately empathize. An escaped criminal, Everett deviates from his “Odyssey” counterpart. In many ways, he isn’t a good person. With good and bad represented in binary terms, we can judge that while Everett is the protagonist, this does not make him an inherently good figure. Selfish, he cares little for those around him, including Pete and Delmar, and merely seeks means by which to achieve his own goals. Everett’s own road to redemption doesn’t begin until halfway through the film. Upon seeing his wife and daughters, he realizes he isn’t living up to his full potential: being the good protagonist of his own story.

As the film continues, the latter half sees Everett committing to goodness, realizing his redemption. But as true Coen Brothers fans know, it really isn’t that simple. By exploring moral relativism, we see how Everett may not be a sincerely moral person, but there is good in his heart, unlike other characters who are unable to discern right from wrong, or fall for the latter time and again. “O Brother, Where Art Thou” is full of symbolism, metaphor, and righteous imagery and message. The Coen Brothers rarely stray from ideas of morality, and the ambiguity which lies therein. The road to redemption is a screwy one, bending along with the morals of the characters on its path.