Deliverance

What is it about nature that both attracts and challenges the men? Pick two characters from Deliverance and compare their relationships to nature.

What are the characters seeking “deliverance” from? What does this tell us about the text’s overall meaning?

How does the novel fit into the frontier adventure or Southern Gothic genres of American literature?

Ed often refers to sleep and dreaming as states from which he must struggle to emerge. When does Ed seems to enter a dreamlike state, and how does this contribute to the reader’s understanding of Ed’s experience?

How is sexuality presented in the novel? How does it impact the reader’s understanding of important characters and events?

Compare Lewis and Ed’s perspectives on the canoe trip at the beginning, middle, and end of the novel. How do the two men differ, and how does their relationship change over the course of the narrative?

Explore the recurring image of the “tan slice” in the “Kitt’n Britches” model’s eye. What does the slice of color in the woman’s eye mean to Ed, and does that meaning change for him?

What is the role of women in Deliverance, and how does their depiction define the personalities of the central male characters?