Proposal

For my upcoming journey through the South, I have decided to travel to the small town of Coldwater, Mississippi.  Coldwater happens to be right next to Arkabutla Lake, the lake that was created by the flooding of the valley where the protagonists of O Brother, Where Art Thou find themselves during the climactic scene of the film.  I would just plan my journey to the lake itself, but there is only so much that you can do at the lake, whereas I can find a few more activities to partake in if I travel to Coldwater, the town closest to it.

One of the main themes of O Brother, Where Art Thou is the modernization of the South.  The moment in the film in which Everett, Pete, and Delmar find themselves floating in Arkabutla Lake symbolizes the official moment of Southern modernization.  The flooding of the valley symbolizes the washing away of older Southern customs and ways of life, and the clearing of a way for the modern age to enter.  This is the area in which Coldwater serves an important purpose.  According to the official website of Arkabutla Lake, the town of Coldwater used to reside around the area where Arkabutla Dam was constructed.  The entire town was moved by the U.S. Government due to the construction.  It now resides one mile to the South of its original location.  This is interesting because it places Coldwater in the context of the modernization theme.  The lake rests on Coldwater’s old location, and Coldwater currently stands in a different location.  The movement of Coldwater could be seen as its transition into the modern age.  Out with the old, in with the new, a tired cliché that nevertheless describes this portion of the South, both in the film and in reality.

Also, O Brother, Where Art Thou is a film about a journey, and the journey eventually leads our protagonists to Arkabutla Lake.  What better way to engage with the themes of the text than by embarking on an odyssey of my own to the very same location that they trekked to.  The journey is as important to exploring the theme as is the destination, considering the fact that the journey was what helped viewers to explore the dueling aspects of the old and new South.  My journey throughout the portion of the South that I select to travel through will serve as a constant reminder of what I am doing on this journey.