Character Change, Illustrated

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that it is not nature one should fear but rather man, nature is a neutral force that only provides context for man to behave a certain way. To illustrate this point, Dickey places four individuals, born and bred in suburban society, into wild and lawless nature. Confronted with the "uncivilized" setting around them, Dickey shows how different men can react to the same situation. The character with the most significant and profound change is Ed Gentry.
Ed agrees to venture out on the river with the hopes of gain a new perspective on the life that has been draining him mentally. Ed's wants are shadowed by his duties to both his family and his job. Although he will not directly tell Lewis, this is the first trip that Ed actually wants to gain something from, not another weekend warrior journey, trying to conquer the natural world. Ed leaves his house in hope for friends, music, sport, a little drinking and a detachment from his day to day life. Right from the start, Ed ...

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on survival. This survival is exactly what Lewis had described to him earlier in the novel,
Survival depends-well, it depends on having
to survive. The kind of life I'm talking
about depends on its being the last chance.
The very last of it all. (Dickey 42).
Ed's realization that this is "very last of it all" comes when the canoe accident has occurred. Drew has been killed and Lewis, the team leader, is injured falling in and out of consciousness. Dickey illustrates Ed's transformation of self as a rebirth. During the violent canoe accident there is a time where Ed believes that he is dead. Ed is dead, what emerges from the river is the survivalist. He has become ...

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