Quarter 4 Portfolio

Quarter 3:

The Odyssey Compare/Contrast Essay

The quarter 3 benchmark was to compare and contrast the book “The Odyssey” to either the movie “O’ Brother Where Art Thou?” or someone that you may know or a movie that you have watched. This was to see if there are any similarities and differences between the characters.

 The Odyssey (Penelope)

vs.

O’ Brother Where Art Thou? (Penny)

 In the movie, “O Brother Where Art thou?” and the book The Odyssey  both of the characters have families that they have to provide for and take care of them. The three points are that Penny decides not to take back her husband however, Penelope does. Both of these characters make decisions that can either jeopardize or bring together their families. Even though Penelope and Penny share many qualities, Penny is very selfish and unwilling to wait to work it out with her husband.

 Both Penelope and Penny show signs of untrust when rumors were going around that their husbands were back. While Everett and Delmar return back to Everett’s hometown, they all find out that Penny is engaged to Vernon T. Waldrip. He is willing to get back with her and tries to convince her that he has changed. However, she doesn’t believe that he has changed and he is the same way as he was before. She tests him to see if he would give her back the ring that she deserves. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the ring because it’s ten thousand feet below the water. As a result, she does not reunite herself with him. Instead, she stays with Vernon. This shows that Penny was very hurt by the fact that her own husband was sent to jail and she doesn’t want to get back with him. Similarly, when Penelope first finds out that her husband is back from being gone for 20 years, she doesn’t believe the suitors. During this time, Penelope is still faithful. However, she tests Odysseus and was asking him questions to see if it was really him. She said, “Come, hand him the bow now, and let’s just see . . . “ (Homer, The Odyssey 21. Line 375). She says this so that she can test the suitors to see if they can shoot the arrow and hit the target.

Even though Penelope and Penny may have some similarities, they also share some differences.  Penny is not willing to wait for Everett. When he was sent to jail, she wanted to divorce him. Overtime, she ends up being engaged to Vernon. She tells her children that Everett was hit by a train and that he’s dead. This shows that Penny was making decisions based on her feelings and what she wanted to do. In contrast, Penelope was always faithful to her husband. She spoke very highly of him. She loved him a lot and always cared about him as well. For example, while Odysseus was gone, she tricks the suitors so that she won’t have to get engaged to any of them.

 Penelope and Penny are very different when their husbands come back. When Everett comes back, Penny doesn’t want to listen when he asks to come back into her life and their children’s lives. She feels this way because she thinks that he is not a good provider for her and her children. Everett has no job and would have no way of taking care of his family. Instead, Vernon has a job and is able to provide and take care of the family. Unlike Penny, Penelope takes Odysseus back. After she tests him, she is still the faithful wife that she was before he even left. This shows that she stays committed to the relationship that she and Odysseus have. For example, when Odysseus comes back she said, “Odysseus- don’t flare up at me now, not you, always the most understanding man alive!” (Homer, The Odyssey Line. 235 -36) This shows that Penelope trust Odysseus and loves him very much and they sill have trust in each other.

 Penelope and Penny do share some things with each other. However, they share a lot of differences. Both of their personalities are different therefore causing them to not have many similarities with one another. Penelope and Penny share similar qualities that effected them when rumors where going around that their husbands had retuned back. Penelope made her decision to stay with her husband and remain faithful to him as well as her children. Unfortunately, Penny decided not to because of her Everett’s choice that resulted him to going to jail. Both families were infected by this in a good and bad way. In all, both families made a choice that they thought would benefit them as well as their families.