Stereotypes In O Brother Where Art Thou

The culture and society of the American South can be categorized into a variety of groups through stereotypes from outsiders, politicians, music and among other things. To help depict the American South, literature and films that we have watched in class such as Mandingo, Gone with the Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Color Purple, Gods Little Acre, Tomorrow, Jezebel, The Littlest Rebel and with special focus on O Brother Where Art Thou will help capture and reflect southern culture to those not accustomed to the ways of southern society. People who live in the southern parts of the United States, ranging from Virginia to Mississippi, are often grouped together into a stereotypical group; which are often called by

While some things listed are true its far fetched to group the entire South as being those things. Unfortunately, in the film, O Brother Where Art Thou, the main characters Everett, Delmar and Pete do fit some of those stereotypical characteristics. All of those men escaped from chain gang in hopes of finding treasure that Everett had said he buried before going to jail. The setting of the really did not help either when trying to limit the stereotypes because it is placed during the time of the Depression. Many of the men in the South during the Depression were poor and often had trouble feeding their families. For example, when the men escaped they traveled to see Pete’s cousin Wash in where they encounter Wash’s son asking if, “they are the bank.” After Wash realizes there might be a possible reward for turning the fugitives in he calls the police. Wash’s explanation for doing it was because he needed to feed his son. Another example would be when Big Dan tricked Everett and Delmar into eating lunch out by the countryside just to rob them of their money. Big Dan was able to deceive the men

Some outsiders will label southerners as people who follow a code, a southern code to be exact. A code in which includes; honor, respect, and God. While Delmar and Pete could be grouped into the negative stereotypes of the South; they also can be grouped into the positives ones too. In O Brother Where Art Thou, there is a scene when the men are on the run and in the woods they see the church congregation traveling to a lake to perform baptisms. While these men were not very religious they felt compelled to be baptized and have their sins erased. Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird, is a man who strictly follows the southern code. Finch is a man who many from the South see as someone who would reflect southern