After the previous events I was not surprised when Drew was shot on the river. It made sense that he would be the first one to die. Ed can not possibly die until the end because he is the narrator. Bobby has already been through a lot and is hurt physically and emotionally so it makes a better story to keep him alive. Lewis was not killed because if he would have died the other guys would lose their hope. They would be lost without his guidance.
I found it a little shocking that Ed was so eager and willing to take on Lewis responsibilities and position. Due to his broken leg Lewis told Ed to basically take charge of the situation and to lead the three of them to safety. Before the trip Ed was not the kind of man to just take charge of a situation. He preferred to sit back and just follow along. In the situation he is in now he can not continue that same trend of behavior because if he does he will die. He knows this and takes charge.
He plans out the groups next moves based on what he thinks the attacker will do. When he talks to Bobby about the plans it is obvious that Bobby has no clue what is going on. If it was up to Bobby the whole group would die.
Ed decides to leave Bobby and Lewis on the bank while he climbs the wall of the gorge to try and hunt down their attacker. After an intense climb up the wall Ed finally makes it to solid level ground. From there he must find a good location to stake out and wait for the attacker. If he picks the wrong location either he could die or his friends could die. I'm pretty sure that he will get a shot on the attacker just like I concluded from the earlier readings.
This new Ed is completely different from the Ed at the beginning of the story. I'm not really shocked though. I think most people have something inside of them that changes when they are put into extreme situations. You never really know how you would react to a situation until you're in. Ed is the same way. It is basically fight or die. He doesn't want to die so he must fight his way out of the woods.
The way James Dickey sets up the novel is very smart. The long drawn out build up to the action and then the concise thrilling moments mimic that of a river. The calm part of the rivers is the same as the character development and build up. Then out of no where comes the action, just like a set of rapids on a river. The action is quick and short lived just like rapids also.
When I was reading these pages I had a hard time believing that it could be true. The first part that is hard to believe is that Ed could hang onto the bow and arrows while being tossed around in the river. It is also remarkable that they didn't break while the canoe, paddles, and Lewis' leg did. I also found it hard to believe that Ed could make it up such a daunting rock face. The way Dickey describes it makes it sound nearly impossible. Ed admitted that he wasn't in the best of shape, yet he is makes it up. This feat is even harder to believe because 1.) Ed has been up for an extremely long time 2.) He has been canoeing all day which must take a lot of strength and 3.) He has not had anything to eat or drink.
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