[[WMG:''O Brother'' really is the film [[Film/SullivansTravels John Sullivan]] made after his travels.]]

Explains itself. Inspired by chain gangs, train hopping, and the never-ending search for a way home, John Sullivan took a page out of ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' and made a film that reconciled comedy and romps with awareness of the absurd human condition.
* Brilliant! I wonder if it could have been intentional.
* It's hard to imagine any other reasons the Coens would have gone with that name. Even better -- after the Aesop Sullivan learned in the original film, he combined escapist entertainment and screwball comedy with his usual socially-conscious subject matter.

[[WMG:The film's George Nelson is not the famous bank robber]]
The real George "Baby Face" Nelson died in Illinois in 1934 at age 25. Therefore he could not be robbing banks in Mississippi in 1937. He was also rather short and his real name was Lester Joseph Gillis.

George Nelson is this man's real name. He appears to have an ambiguous disorder, with symptoms of bipolar disorder (becoming heavily depressed after the excitement of a robbery and leaving his share of the money). He heard of the exploits of the real Baby Face Nelson and became convinced it was him.

[[WMG:The Sheriff was not the Devil, as some have theorized.]]
Given the original source material, it makes more sense that the Sheriff was in fact Poseidon, the god who most harried Odysseus in ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', seeking vengeance for the blinding of Polyphemus. Making his final defeat when a deluge of water saved Everett and his friends DeathByIrony. Or possibly the hand of Zeus, the god of the storm, since it involved torrents of water, diverted to create a hydroelectric dam.

[[WMG:Sheriff Cooley is a {{pyromaniac}}.]]
In almost every scene where he appears, there is fire. Regardless of who Sheriff Cooley is or what he represents, fire is deeply interwoven into his character, and he seems to enjoy watching things burn. His fire is finally extinguished when the TVA floods the valley where Everett's house stands.
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