the dude abides

3) Just as Whitman catalogues all walks of life in “Song of Myself” and “Song for Occupations”, the Coen Brothers seem to create remarkably diverse characters in each of their movies. How might any given character of a Coen Bros. movie fit into the Whitmanian ideal? Would Whitman be able to easily relate to/connect with other Coen characters besides The Dude? Why are these characters so relatable to Whitman?

 

As i was reading this prompt, i got a surge of various characters that were rather mundane and ordinary, but resounded with complexity and striving character development that well, i'm still flabbergasted and a bit lost from this prompt still. A film that is technically not a Coen film, though it is what made by them, was No Country For Old Men, a novel penned by Cormac McCarthy.

 

So this tough as nails handy man stumbles on a bag of money and does what any normal man would do, take it and run. However, after his conscience irks him to return, with a jug of water for a dying man, he is chased relentlessly by the drug cartel, a brutal silent assassin.

 

Take the money and run.

 

Whitman, though quite the isolated and deranged character in reality, is man whom, in fiction, establishes himself as bard of America, a man who has made it his duty to recount the dreams of our country, the wishes of it's people and the destiny of its occupants. More so, he establishes a mantra where we are all connected, all one, all encompassing, in hopes of establishing a society where kindness and compassion abound, where the ordinary man, is no longer just ordinary but great. But not greater than others. 

 

Whitman, could quite easily slip into a Coen film as an archetype, which in the Coen universe could be anything of anyone. But most importantly, he would be yearning for something, at the expense of others, though quite shrewd in realizing it, with a hint of macabre humor, and death. Someone always dies, even if it's Brad Pitt in burn after reading. But what establishes the plot, is that there are many players in this rat race, and many things aren't spoken and when words are spoken, they are sardonic and brilliant. Look at True Grit, words are spoken (mostly unintelligible) but the story is motivated by the singular character who wants revenge but seeks unlikely help (a drunkard)

 

These ordinary people do great things, and part of the entertainment is that we can relate to this great people because we encounter them all the time or we have been in similar positions though not as preposterous. What makes Coen Films and Whitman so great is that we can easily slip in via osmosis and enjoy the story.