The Big Lebowski Essay Questions

Why do men assault The Dude in the opening sequence of the film?

The Dude comes home from the grocery store to find two men in his apartment who assault him and urinate on his rug. They demand he pay money to a porn magnate, Jackie Treehorn, because his wife owes him. Unfortunately for the Dude, they've mistaken him for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wealthy millionaire. After they have waterboarded the Dude in his own toilet, the thugs realize they have the wrong man and leave him alone.

How does Donny die?

Donny comes out of the bowling alley with the Dude and Walter at the end of the film to be greeted by the German nihilists. They demand the ransom money once more, and Walter decides to fight them all. While he is beating them, the excitement of the fight causes Donny to have a heart attack, which kills him. Donny, a rather underdeveloped character who is often verbally abused by Walter, meets a tragic end.

How does the Dude screw up the ransom drop?

The Dude agrees to let Walter come along with him to drop the ransom money. Walter, who is often filled with horrible ideas, brings along a "ringer," a fake briefcase to give to the thugs as ransom, and in a flagrant display of incompetence, throws the briefcase out of the car instead of the briefcase that Brandt, Lebowski's butler, gave to the Dude.

Why is the Dude such a cult hero?

While it is impossible to say exactly why Jeff Bridges' characterization of a happy-go-lucky slacker has been so important to so many people, his appeal has something to do with his stoner-y humor and the fact that his attitude of pacifism and nonviolence is often unexpectedly profound and ethical. He represents the everyman and the underdog, and is the quintessential anti-hero, someone who gets into a lot of trouble, but still manages to be a good guy with a sense of what is right.

Who is the Stranger and why is he in the film?

The Stranger is the mysterious narrator character played by Sam Elliott, a cowboy who appears twice in the film, both times at the bar at the bowling alley, drinking a sarsaparilla. He is the archetypal Westerner, a cowboy with a bushy mustache and a drawl. He represents the West, the American Dream, and old cinematic archetypes from Western movies, a kind of swaggering masculine American hero. He acts as a magical sage, who appears at different times to tell the Dude that he's on the right track and lend the narrative a fable-like quality.