Lewis Medlock's Deliverance Themes

This review is about the thriller Deliverance written by James Dickey. One of the main themes of the book seems to be leadership. The two main protagonists of the book are Ed Gentry and Lewis Medlock. Ed is a middle-aged graphic artist who is stuck in the daily grind that is his life, and is looking for a bit more excitement. Lewis is landlord who lives his life independently and offers Ed the change for the excitement he’s looking for by suggesting they go on a canoe on a river in Northern Georgia. At first Ed is a bit hesitant about taking the trip, but after some convincing by Lewis they decide to go. Also joining them are two other middle-aged man who are stuck in the same grind as Ed, Drew Ballinger, who is a soft drink executive, and …show more content…
Before embarking on the canoe trip they make a stop at a local gas station, here they ask the Griner brothers to drive their cars to their final destination, which is a town called Aintry. The Griner brothers agree to do this, and so the four men can start their canoe trip. Lewis and Bobby are in one canoe, and Ed and Drew in the other. The first day is quite rough, as the four men are learning to navigate the canoe thought the river. After a long day of canoeing, they set up camp and talk about their lives. The next day Lewis tells Ed to take bobby in his canoe because Lewis is annoyed by Bobby. After some time Ed and Bobby are some way ahead of Lewis and Drew, at this point they decide to wait for them and they get off the river. As they are waiting for them they are approached by two hillbillies, one of them has a shotgun. The hillbillies threaten Ed and Lewis, who think they are just joking around. At this point the hillbillies get more serious and they tie Ed to a tree. After Ed is tied to the tree, one of the hillbillies starts to rape and humiliate Bobby. After being done with Bobby he turns to Ed. Suddenly an arrow pierces through the heart of one of the hillbillies and Lewis appears from the woods. The other hillbilly runs away. The men decide to bury the body in the …show more content…
Lewis accepts this and agrees with every decision made by Ed from this point on. The title Deliverance can refer to multiple events in the book. At first, they are delivered from their everyday routines by going on an exciting adventure. But foremost, I think Deliverance refers to the end of the book, where they get away free from an awful experience and are allowed to go back to their everyday lives.

The theme leadership is clear throughout the book, Lewis is clearly seen as the leader and Ed really steps up when Lewis is injured and unable to lead them. James Dickey did an excellent job at portraying this, as well as living up to the title Deliverance. Deliverance is an exciting and well written book that really holds the attention of the reader. The first part, leading up to the canoe trip, is a bit long though. But it does give a nice backstory for the four men, as it really shows you how they change throughout the