Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 5
Larry is back at work. He’s got a message from Sy Abelman, the man whom his wife is leaving him for: "Let’s have a nice talk." Clive, his student who wants a new mid-term grade, has come in again. Larry holds up the envelope full of cash and indirectly accuses Clive of bribing him. Clive remains opaque, while at the same time seeming to know what’s in the envelope. "Actions have consequences," says Larry, but Clive isn’t entirely with him. "Yes, often" is the best he can do. This sends Larry into a frenzy: all actions, he says, have consequences — not just in physics, but morally. This is an important insight into Larry’s mind: to him, life makes sense only when actions have consequences. Things don’t just "happen" for no reason, an envelope full of money doesn’t just appear on his desk for no reason. Clive either did, or did not, try to bribe Larry. Based on the evidence, it seems clear that he did, but there’s nothing Larry can do to prove it, and Clive doesn’t give him an inch. As I’ve mentioned before, Larry is being tested here. If Clive did not leave the money on Larry’s desk, who did? Did Hashem? An envelope full of money seems well within the realm of the possible, given some of the events that eventually transpire in this movie. The notion that actions always have consequences will have a special resonance in the closing moments of the movie, especially regarding this envelope of money.