If this is true, Dickey s rollercoaster ride through life represents many of his characters and their thoughts. Dickey loses himself in the paradoxes of his work, so that he can find himself. Thus, his connection to his true love, his art, frees himself from suburbia, thoughts of war, family considerations, and much more. Dickey s paradoxical nature provides him a form of justification for his thoughts and actions. He is out of place except in his art.
Deliverance represents a desire to energize the boring life of suburbia.
Christopher Dickey eulogized his father only after Christopher Dickey brings some resolution to their relationship. It is easy to sympathize with Christopher Dickey, his mother, and close friends. It is not clear if James Dickey ever humanized his relationship with family and friends. The connection was more of an animalistic concern for his surroundings. Christopher Dickey also states that he became a foreign correspondent to stay as far away as possible from his father.