Deliverance

Adapted by James Dickey from his 1970 best-selling novel and directed by John Boorman, Deliverance (1972) follows the ordeal of four middle-aged men who must fight for their survival against a series of assaults by a group of mountain dwellers during a weekend canoeing trip. Testing the men both physically and psychologically, the adventure epitomizes the male bonding central to the emerging buddy film genre. Paralleling concerns about dominant masculinity expressed by the women's and gay liberation movements, the film examines the troubled state of traditional white, heterosexual masculinity in the United States.

Alienated by urban stress and demoralized by emasculating managerial jobs, the men are experiencing a crisis in masculine identity at the beginning of the movie. As white southerners, the loss of power engendered by the recent civil rights movement further exacerbates their uncertainty about the traditional male role. In this context, the decision to return to nature can be interpreted as an attempt to recuperate a lost masculinity.

The four principal characters in Deliverance represent different aspects of the late-twentieth-century male psyche. Lewis (Burt Reynolds), a man of action, relies on his muscular physique and innate athletic abilities to control others. His macho bravado ultimately masks insecurities about his traditional masculine role. Bobby (Ned Beatty), an overweight insurance salesman, appears ill-at-ease in outdoor surroundings. Sexually assaulted by a savage mountain man, Bobby responds to this affront on his manhood by disavowing the rape and persuading his friends to do the same. Drew (Ronny Cox), a sensitive musician, serves as the group's moral conscience. His desire to abide by the law places him at odds with his fellow travelers. Finally, Ed (Jon Voight), a mild-mannered businessman, taps an untested well of strength and discovers the innate instincts of a killer.

Among this group of men, two opposing models of masculinity eventually emerge. Bobby, Drew, and Ed represent various elements of a civil masculinity defined by obedience and self-restraint, alignment with the laws of society, and repression of primal urges. Lewis, an expert hunter, symbolizes a more primitive masculinity aligned with the laws of nature and expressed in domination and acts of violence. Valorizing neither model, Deliverance exposes the traumas these conflicting definitions of manhood create, for although primitive masculinity may inflict corporeal wounds, the self-restraint of civil masculinity pains men emotionally.

Unleashing male sexual energies deemed taboo by society, Bobby's assault arouses feelings of male eroticism and attraction. Similarly, Ed's killing of a mountain man exposes his own potential for violence. For all four men, the journey through [Page 128]the river's rapids and the encounter with the mountain men become metaphors for the dangers of allowing male sexual energies and violent impulses to rage out of control. Denied an outlet for displaying affection toward other men, sexual and emotional feelings between men must be repressed. By the film's end Drew drowns, and two mountain men have been murdered, their bodies buried beneath the river. In a final dream sequence, Ed sees a gun clutched by an outstretched arm resurface from its watery grave. Symbolizing the return of the repressed, his nightmare suggests that men's attempts to sublimate primitive male desire are ultimately problematic.

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