The main characters in Tay Garnett's film  The Postman Always Rings Twice  and the Coen Brothers'  The Man Who Wasn't There  follow a pattern of behavior that is inane and ultimately self-destructive, as can be seen in how they end up -- either dead, wrongly accused and imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit, or ironically not convicted  for a crime they did commit. What do you think these films are saying about the pattern of behavior they followed to get them where they wound up in the end, as well as why they followed these patterns of behavior in the first place? In other words, what is the way of thinking or belief system that lead to these characters' behaviors, and what does the film tell us about this way of thinking or belief system? And finally, does the film propose an alternative way of thinking or life narrative that might have proven more salutory for these characters in the end? .

1. The main characters in Tay Garnett's film
The Postman Always Rings Twice
and the Coen Brothers'
The Man Who
Wasn't There
follow a pattern of behavior that is inane and ultimately self-
destructive, as can be seen in how they end up -- either dead,
wrongly accused and imprisoned for a crime they didn't commit,
or ironically not convicted for a crime they did commit. What
do you think these films are saying about the pattern of
behavior they followed to get them where they wound up in the
end, as well as why they followed these patterns of behavior in
the first place? In other words, what is the way of thinking or
belief system that lead to these characters' behaviors, and what
does the film tell us about this way of thinking or belief
system? And finally, does the film propose an alternative way
of thinking or life narrative that might have proven more
salutory for these characters in the end?