What is the meaning of the movie title?
what was the deliverance?
sharebout rape
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MovieChat Forums > Deliverance (1972) Discussion > What is the meaning of the movie title?
I guess (temporary) deliverance from the protective -but repressive of one's true nature and survival instincts- blanket of civilization.
shareBobby prayed prior to being raped, "Deliver us from evil".
It's also a metaphor for the river delivering them to safety.
Funny thing...in the book early on there is a scene where the Jon Voight character has sex with his wife in their bed before leaving for the adventure. Her willingness to have sex is specifically noted as ..."deliverance" for the Voight character from his worries. The word "deliverance" is used there, and I think only there.
On the other hand. I saw Deliverance at the theater with my father in 1972, and at the moment that Burt Reynolds was revealed nearby with a bow and arrow at the ready, arrow poised to kill the hillbilly rapist, my father said:
"Deliverance!"
...and then laughed as the arrow went through the rapist.
Meanwhile, the whole adventure/nightmare can indeed be seen as a kind of deliverance to manhood or truth..