Daniel literally did nothing wrong That smug charlatan preacher

Daniel created Eli. Not in the biological sense, but his investment in the town is what allowed Eli's church to prosper.

When he shouts "I'M GOING TO EAT YOU!" right before caving his head in with a bowling ball, It's an allusion to the Greek myth of Saturn devouring his sons.

Now, Eli might be a sniveling, manipulative little shit but do not forget that he also helped Daniel. Without his help, he would not have gotten the initial rights to the oil and beaten his competitors.

So while in that singular moment of Eli leeching off Daniel yet again, the murder might almost seem justified, they could not have reached their respective stations in life without each other. Daniel absolutely abhors this fact and that's why he kills him.

>>81775290

-pays insufficient attention to safety at his work site, and the failure of an oil rig kills a man in his employ
-scoops up the man's baby and raises it as his own, concealing this fact from all others going forward
-fails to learn from the above mistake, and again has one of his men die on his watch
-kills men in the heat of anger

The other stuff can be excused or defended, but not the above core transgressions, OP.

>>81775596

This post implies that Paul and Eli Sunday are the same person, an unpopular theory on /tv/ which is nevertheless correct. So, this is a good post. A central theme of TWBB is false/confused identity between male family members, real Bible stuff.

>>81775791
>This post implies that Paul and Eli Sunday are the same person
it's fucking wrong though because when the Sundays have a dinner, Eli flips out on his dad about Paul selling them out

>>81775791
Oil drilling was and still remains extremely dangerous. People went in knowing the risks and knew that being killed or mailed is very likely.

>>81775290
Temporal vs spiritual, temporal won.

>>81775886

It's funny that you believe that that line positively demonstrates the existence of a Paul Sunday.

I bet you think that the Sunday family has referred to Paul on other occasions over the course of the film, too.

>>81775596
The comparison to Saturn is interesting, but Standard was already buying land in the region and other oil-men were also looking around. Even if Daniel hadn't shown up, someone else would have

I HAVE ABANDONED MY MEMES

>>81776266
Why it doesn't?
They're clearly written as two different people in the script
your headcanon doesn't matter to anyone

>>81775791
>put that cigarette out
>if you're going down in the basement, tell someone
>insufficient attention

>>81776833
This. Also from the way he talks to his second in command (forget the dude's name) you can tell he tries to maintain a personable relationship with some of his employees.

>>81776903
...Fletcher...Hamilton...if I'm remembering right. Ciaran Hinds, anyway.

>>81775912
Oil drilling is very safe
https://youtu.be/D48AO4diDTw

>>81775791
>an unpopular theory on /tv/
Now, we all know where this opinion might be popular and I think you should go back
>>81775596
>It's an allusion to the Greek myth of Saturn devouring his sons.
Take this guy with you

>>81776670

1. I notice that you can't point to any other instances in the film where anyone else in Little Boston refers to a "Paul" Sunday.

Here's why it matters: as I said, a central theme of TWBB is false, or confused identity among male relatives. The surface interpretation is to suppose that they really are two twin brothers, but the film itself gives us substantive reason to suppose that this is not the case.

Eli Sunday is a mentally unstable (this goes very well with his religious fervors, makes them look more 'authentic') homosexual who is nevertheless bright enough to eke out a distinguished place for himself in society. He might not have a split-personality as-such, but as a weirdo, he invented "Paul" in order to approach the oilman and shake up the community a bit. Daniel was never really completely sure that there were two different Sunday brothers (check the confused exchange of glances between Daniel and H.W. after meeting "Eli" for the first time), and in the final scene, it doesn't matter: Daniel continues to play along with this "Paul", real person or no, to taunt Eli.

It doesn't even matter what the director's intentions were, or how the happy accident came about. All that matters is what shows up in the final product, and the Paul/Eli confusion is wholly of a piece with Daniel's false child, his false brother, the two Bandys by the same name, and one or two others I'm probably missing at the moment.

>>81777256
>it's a redditor thinks he knows more about the movie than director

>>81777256
Pseudointellectuals please leave. Paul was originally going to be portrayed by a different actor even, just btfo.

>>81777256
>It doesn't even matter what the director's intentions were
WEW

>>81777256
I like your death-of-the-artist take on this. That isn't to say I agree, but that your intrepretation is an entertaining piece on it's own.