O Brother!

Throughout the film O Brother Where Art Thou, there is a continuous theme of trust. The film revolves around three escaped convicts Everett (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro), and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) who embark on a quest to find a hidden treasure. As we find out later in the film, Everett is the one who organized the prison break. Pete and Delmar simply followed him, enthralled by the notion of getting rich and living large. Right from the start, they trusted Everett was being open and honest. However, they eventually learn that he was just looking out for his own well-being. He did not escape to locate hidden treasure, instead he escaped so that he could stop his wife from re-marrying. In so doing, he screwed over Pete and Delmar who only had a little bit of time left on their prison sentences, but will now be faced with many more years in prison.

Later on in the movie, there is a scene when the Delmar thinks Pete has been turned in to a toad (he was actually handed over to the authorities). Delmar is very concerned about his friend, believing what he thinks is true and refusing to continue on the journey without Pete in hand. Everett shows less concern. His interest is on moving forward with their mission, with or without Pete. Everett is again showing that he is only interested in helping himself and that his companions are an afterthought. There is even a scene where Delmar is hit by the bible salesman who is wielding a tree branch. After he is struck, Everett shows no concern, he continues eating his lunch and talking passively with the salesman. Even as Delmar attacks the salesman and is again struck by the branch, Everett still shows no sympathy.

At one point, Everett and Delmar and the toad encounter a bible salesman (John Goodman) who leads them to believe he will teach them the secret to his craft so that they may prosper from the profits. This turns out to be a lie however. The bible salesman is only interested in self-gain and uses the situation to steal from Everett and Delmar. The scene starts out with a very wide shot of a farm field. In the middle ground there is a lone tree. On right side of the tree is a lake, and on the left is Everett and Delmar's car (which they stole). Everett, Delmar, and the bible salesmen can faintly be seen underneath the tree, eating a picnic lunch. The next shots are medium close-ups of the bible salesman, Delmar, and Everett, as they are finishing their meal and getting down to business. As the salesman is explaining the bible selling trade, the camera is still at a medium closeup and is at a low angle as a means to add authority to the salesman's pitch and allow the audience to see his hand movements. The camera angle remains low as the salesman breaks off a tree branch. Once he has branch in hand, the camera switches between shots of the salesman, of Delmar, and of Everett. The salesman hits Delmar, who then fights back, but is struck again. Everett remains seated on the ground, chomping on a piece of corn. At last, the salesman hits him too. After one more fight with Delmar, the salesman wins and steals Everett's money before throwing the toad out of the box and crushing it with his hand. Once the salesman is finished with his tirade and has his stolen money, he marches off to steal their car. At this point the camera is again at a low angle and it switches between shots of the salesman and extreme closeups of Delmar, who is yelling in distress over the toad being crushed.

Trust is a critical aspect of the movie, as it ultimately drives the plot. It is the reason Pete and Delmar follow Everett on the journey, why they are taken advantage of by the bible salesman and even why Everett sets out on his journey in the first place. Everett has trust that his wife will listen to him and stop her remarriage because of his presence. Although trust is mostly used as a tool for taking advantage of other people, it still plays an important role. Pete and Delmar are really the only characters who truly trust each other and look out for another through the entire movie.