In the book, Deliverance, four civilized, normal, antifrictional men take a canoeing trip down a dangerous, unpredictable, wild, unknown river. All through out their trip they are forced to deal with many tragic experiences. Each one of them must decide how to deal with these experiences. They can either get sucked into the pain and spiral downward until they eventually destroy themselves, or they can take in the pain and becomes stronger as a result.
             A tragic experience is defined as the spectacle of a protagonist, alone and uncomforted, forced to suffer fortune's reverses. When a tragic experience occurs, it does not make moral assertions, instead it asks questions. For example, it will ask, what is possible here? What is man capable of doing in the situation? What might come of that? The protagonist is often isolated form society and his/her suffering is often disproportionate to his culpability, or the protagonist often does not deserve what he/she gets. A tragic experience tests mans moral, spiritual, emotional, and physical limits, to overcome extreme odds, both within and with out. A tragic experience views a happy ending as a waste, almost as if it wasn't worth what they went through.
             In, Deliverance, there is a whole slur of tragic experiences. The first and main experience happens early in the trip. When Bobby and Ed go ashore to wait for Lewis and Drew, two hillbillies confront them. After raping Bobby and tying up Ed to a tree, Lewis shoots one of the hillbillies with a bow while the other one escapes. This experience ignites the tragic experience bomb, and clears the way for many more to come. The second tragedy occurs when they continue to make their way downstream. They come a pun a series of rapids, and both canoes capsize. After making it through the rapids they discover that Drew was shot in the head by the hillbilly at the top of the gorge, and Lewis, the only on
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