I find the opening dialogue regarding “the math” to be one of the more revealing pieces in the film.

“You understand the dead cat? But… you… you can’t really understand the physics without understanding the math. The math tells how it really works. That’s the real thing; the stories I give you in class are just illustrative; they’re like, fables, say, to help give you a picture. An imperfect model. I mean – even I don’t understand the dead cat. The math is how it really works.”

And as the film says, the Jews have a tradition of stories to draw upon. In a bit of role-reversal, in that one scene Gopnik becomes the rabbi (more to the point, a kabbalist) to his beleaguered student. What’s the term? As “hysteron proteron,” it’s prototypical for the rest of the film.

Of course, the Coen’s are more interested in the ambiguity of the problem of evil, rather than any definitive answers. What answer would they give anyway? Surely it’s no accident that the final image is juxtaposed with a decision made by Gopnik (accepting the mystery?). Not when the film had explicitly referenced the story of Abraham and Isaac.

“I didn’t do anything!”

“Good riddance to evil!”

Anyway, that is at least one of the things going on. As with any ambiguous tale, this can probably be discussed ad nauseum. I’m fairly certain that the Coen’s have as much knowledge of physics as most fiction writers who like to evoke the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which is to say not very much. I’m also fairly certain they know more about Jefferson Airplane than I do, so who’s to say what’s what?

“Just look at that parking lot.”