James Dickey's Deliverance during the World War II
During World War II Dickey enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps. Dickey served as a navigator with the 418th Night Fighters in the South Pacific where he logged close to 500 combat hours while flying over 100 missions. Dickey was awarded several awards, including the Air Medal, The Asiatic Pacific Ribbon, The Philippine Liberation Ribbon and seven battle stars. Dickey’s nights consisted of near death experiences, while he days consisted of nothing to do. Dickey soon began to fill these long monotonous days with books developing his interest literature, particularly poetry. (Thomson Gale, 2005)The War both fascinated and horrified Dickey, it changed his whole outlook on life, he now viewed his life as a survivor. He once commented in a letter to his parents that all he did was lie around and reflects on how lucky he was to be alive.
During the 1960 's Dickey experienced one of America’s most remarkable streaks of literary accomplishments in American literature. Most of this success was owed to his first collection of poetry, Into the Stone and Other Poems. In this book of poems, there were only five poems based on Dickey 's past war experiences. Most of the poems stressed nature as the force from which life and death can be gained. (Calhoun, 1987)
The first novel that Dickey published was called Deliverance. The novel was publicly attacked for its use of violence and ignoring important social issues. Despite all this, Deliverance became a best selling novel in 1970. For all of his collections of poems, Dickey came closest to capturing his personal mythopoeic vision in his novel Deliverance. The novel reflects Dickey 's characteristic cult of experience, concentrating on mans ambivalence towards civilization and the company of women. (Kellman, September 1994)
Deliverance consists of four financially successful white-collar men, men who live in the suburbs. Ed, graphic designer or art director for an advertising agency, insurance salesman Bobby Trippe,
During the 1960 's Dickey experienced one of America’s most remarkable streaks of literary accomplishments in American literature. Most of this success was owed to his first collection of poetry, Into the Stone and Other Poems. In this book of poems, there were only five poems based on Dickey 's past war experiences. Most of the poems stressed nature as the force from which life and death can be gained. (Calhoun, 1987)
The first novel that Dickey published was called Deliverance. The novel was publicly attacked for its use of violence and ignoring important social issues. Despite all this, Deliverance became a best selling novel in 1970. For all of his collections of poems, Dickey came closest to capturing his personal mythopoeic vision in his novel Deliverance. The novel reflects Dickey 's characteristic cult of experience, concentrating on mans ambivalence towards civilization and the company of women. (Kellman, September 1994)
Deliverance consists of four financially successful white-collar men, men who live in the suburbs. Ed, graphic designer or art director for an advertising agency, insurance salesman Bobby Trippe,
Cited: Barnett, P. E. (n.d.). James Dickey 's Deliverance: Southern, White, Suburban Male Nightmare or Dream Come True? Retrieved October 18, 2007, from Forum for Modern Language Studies: http://fmls.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/40/2/145 Calhoun, R. J. (1987). James Dickey (1923- ). In R. J. Calhoun, Fifty Southern Writers After 1900: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook (pp. 136-146). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Kellman, S. G. (September 1994). Deliverance. In Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Vol. 5. Salem Pr Inc . Snider, D. C. (2000, January 8). Retrieved Novemeber 2, 2007, from James Dickey 's Deliverance: An American Journey from Innocence to Experience: http://www.csulb.edu/~csnider/dickey.deliverance.html Thomson Gale, a. p. (2005). James Dickey Biography. Retrieved 10 20, 2007, from Encyclopedia of World Biography: http://www.bookrags.com/biography/james-dickey/