Deliverance

Deliverance, by James Dickey, depicts the journey of four suburban men down the fictional Cahulawassee River in northern Georgia. The four men, Drew Ballinger, Ed Gentry, Lewis Medlock, and Bobby Trippe, intend on taking an easy, fun trip down the river; this is not at all what they receive. After encountering two mountain men in the woods, who proceed to sodomize Bobby, the four men find themselves fighting for their lives.

The novel is narrated by Ed Gentry, a middle class family man who lives in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. The novel's chapters are split up into time periods. The first chapter is called "Before". The three middle chapters are all dates of the trip, which lasts three days. The last chapter is aptly named "After".

Deliverance was a novel ahead of its time. Published in 1970, Deliverance was unlike most novels published at this time due to its explicit content. The major themes explored in the novel are the maturation of the men while traveling down the river and the examination of society and self. These themes allow the author to depict the effect the trip had on the four men and how their lives change due to their experiences.

Due to the horrifying events the men experience, each of them return home to Atlanta changed men. For example, Drew Ballinger has very high moral standards and is unable to handle the murder of one of the mountain men, which led to his demise on the river. Lewis Medlock, the leader and alpha male of the trip, breaks his leg while falling through rapids, no longer allowing him to lead the trip. Ed Gentry is forced to lead the trip due to Lewis' injury; this is difficult for Ed, as he has never felt a sense of leadership in his entire life. Due to what Bobby experiences, the reader may come to the conclusion that he is the most damaged, but returns to normal life once he returns to Atlanta. Though the men are affected in multiple ways, they acquire maturity on the trip and return to their homes a different person. MKH