Deliverance

The novel’s opening scene introduces one of its key themes: The Relationship Between Images and Reality. When Lewis marks an X on the map, Ed feels that Lewis’s hand “has power over the terrain” so that when Lewis pauses to explain something, “it is as if all streams everywhere quit running, hanging silently where they were to let the point be made” (1). The wording suggests that the map—or even Lewis—is calling the terrain into being rather than being a representation of real topography. This foreshadows the men’s lack of preparedness for what they will encounter, hinting that the wilderness is to them a fantasy rather than a reality. At the same time, a similar lack of unreality permeates the men’s “civilized” lives. For example, while at work, Ed reflects upon the “roughs” (black and white sketches of the proposed design) on his desk. Mixed in with them is a photo of is Ed’s family, but the wording is ambiguous; among them, Ed says, “sat my wife and my little boy, Dean” (15). It is as if Ed’s family are one of the proposed visual images that have yet to be realized, hinting that one of the men’s reasons for going on the trip is the desire to experience something more “authentic” than their everyday urban lives. As Ed remarks of the map: “[T]he eye could not leave the whole; there was a harmony of some kind. Maybe, I thought, it’s because this tries to show what exists” (9).

The relationship between image and reality is something that Ed’s first-person narrative perspective emphasizes. As Ed looks at the map, he finds himself judging its aesthetic qualities, in keeping with his profession as a graphic designer: “It was certainly not much from the standpoint of design. The high ground, in tan and an even paler tone of brown, meandered in and out of various shades and shapes of green, and there was nothing to call you or stop you” (8). In fact, while Ed professes himself pleased with the mediocrity of what his own company produces, a sense of malaise underpins his relationship with his work. His firm is “full of gray affable men who had tried it in New York and come back South to live and die. They were competent, though we demanded no very high standard from them” (11). The passage foregrounds the gulf between artistic inspiration and mechanical skill. Ed’s business demands only the latter, but Dickey hints that boredom with these unambitious goals contributes to Ed’s interest in the wilderness trip.

The theme of images and reality thus relates to another key theme introduced in Part 1: The Conflict Between Humanity and Nature. Lewis tells the men that the as-of-yet unflooded area is “wild […] like something up in Alaska” (1). The repetition in these lines emphasizes the point that the four men need to see the wilderness before it disappears—i.e., “before the real estate people get hold of it and make it over into one of their heavens” (2). Ed’s use of the word “heaven” is ironic, as he clearly does not believe that development will improve the region. However, his skepticism of the dam project will contrast with that of the people who live there; where they resent the industrialization of their home, Ed and his friends romanticize what they take to be untamed nature without really understanding it.

Part 1 also establishes the relationship between Ed and his friends and highlights the Conflicting Ideals of Masculinity. The four men represent different registers of masculinity, with Lewis being the most stereotypically “male” of the group. He is energetic and adventurous, and is experiencing a mid-life crisis that makes him want to be “immortal.” Lewis lifts weights and is obsessed with physical fitness and achieving mastery over the various sports he undertakes. By contrast, Ed, who knows that he does not have Lewis’s drive to achieve, represents a more conventional, middle-class, middle-aged man. Bobby is the opposite of Lewis. He is physically soft, loves comfort, and strives to please people—all feminine-coded traits. Drew, who is even-tempered and seeks fairness in all his dealings with others, is somewhere in the middle.

Given the narrative’s focus on the male experience, women in this section largely feature as motifs that represent both the civilization from which the men wish to escape as well as the essence of the wildness they seek, as represented by the symbol of the “mote” in the model’s eye. In the latter role, women are closely associated with the motif of sexuality and its relationship to masculine identity, as part of what Ed, at least, is searching for is a more vital form of sexuality.