Kyle Jones wrote:
A person with guile is someone who is clever, skillfully deceptive, or just a cunning and witty character. Another name for a person of guile can be a con man. A con man is someone who swindles or tricks another in order to benefit themselves. There have been con men in history that, basically, perfected their trick or art and made millions of dollars from their schemes. An early type of "conning" in history that people performed was that of the "snake oil salesman." This has become a common reference to one who performs "quack medicine," a type of trickery that is still performed today. A famous con man in American history was Charles Ponzi, known for his famous "Ponzi scheme." In this scheme, he swindled investors to put money into what they believed to be an investment company that was just a fraudulent investment operation. This scheme, like "quack medicine," is even still done today; the most famous recent case being that of Bernie Madoff. There have been numerous con men throughout history, and there were many that rose during the Depression Era. People were homeless, suffering from starvation, and freezing in winter from lack of clothes and shelter. Surprisingly, only sixty percent of the U.S. population felt an impact from the Depression (Allen "America in the 1930's"). Allen notes that many of the rich felt no impact from the Depression and were even oblivious to all that was happening to those less fortunate. A con man works, at times, by attempting to gain trust of a person. Once they have gained a person's trust, they then take advantage of them. Many of the victims during the Depression Era were rich people. During this time, people had to find any means necessary in order to survive; therefore several people, mainly men, performed the act of "conning" people. These "cons" or "con games" consisted of fake checks, counterfeiting money, people marrying only for money and not love, fixing horse races, or even some basic card tricks on the street. False promises were made just so the con artists could benefit in some way. The con man still exists in our world today, which is unfortunate, as many of these men have brilliant minds. However, usually the con man is only working for one person, and that, of course, is themselves and themselves alone.
In the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? con men are present throughout the entire story. Whether it be the main character in Ulysses Everett McGill, the Bible salesman Big Dan Teague, the politicians, or Penny, each character can be looked upon as a kind of con man. Each character works at some kind of angle which will benefit only themselves. Ultimately, McGill is the man who comes out on top, so let us explore how he achieves this. McGill isn't like most con men who only want money; instead his main focus is on returning home to be reunited with his wife. McGill tricks his chain gang into believing he has a 1.2 million dollar fortune buried just so they go with him on his journey home. After performing "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow" as one of the Soggy Bottom Boys, he takes advantage of a blind producer, claiming to have more people in the group in order to get more money. McGill may be a con man, but as described by the movie title, his search for his wife is marked both by cheating others and by acting with brotherly love. It's courteous when he picks up a complete stranger, Tommy Johnson, which is unheard of at the time since he's African American. Later, he and his crew save Tommy from the noose at a KKK rally, calling Tommy a friend even though he barely knows him. This is why viewers appreciate McGill more than most con men, as he acts differently than most. McGill's journey deals a lot with fate, yet it also deals with the aspect of chance and human actions or decisions as well. Much of McGill's fate lies in his own hands, a lot which is seen through the development of his character. By the end of the movie, he has given up his "conning" ways and is now "bona fide." His "brotherly love" side wins out as seen when he tells his chain gang the truth, gets down on his knees, and prays to God. Although he uses his con man characteristic throughout his journey to his advantage, it's nice to see the "brotherly love" aspect ultimately win out as he ultimately prevails in his search for his wife.
Like McGill in the movie, Odysseus in the epic The Odyssey can be seen as a "man full of guile," even a "con man."He too goes through a series of temptations and moral trials when all he really wants is to return home to his wife. Odysseus' deception of the Cyclops and his loyal shepherd Eumaeus are two examples of Odysseus using his guile. He tricks the Cyclops into getting drunk, and believing his name is "Nohbdy."Both prove to be important during Odysseus' escape when he stabs the Cyclops in the eye who cries "Nohbdy has ruined me," so no help comes. He simply tricks Eumaeus into believing he is a beggar as he is in a disguise and tells a long, yet made up story. Odysseus must discipline himself on his journey as he desires to gain a wealth of experience from the world. The gods help him at times; however, much of his own fate lies in his own actions and decisions. Odysseus' fate, like McGill's, lies mainly in his own actions and decisions. Both men use their con man characteristics to their advantage, and like McGill, Odysseus too ultimately prevails.
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