Going Down: The possibility of symbolism in literature

Like many people this summer, a few weeks ago I went to the movie theater and saw Pixar's Toy Story 3. The Toy Story movies were a big part of my childhood, and I was glad that the third movie did not let me down in any way. The only thing that kept jumping out at me was how the movie seemed to have an undercurrent message, which could be summed up like this: the more you jumped into the plot of the movie, the more it seemed like the toys were going farther and farther into Hell. Call me crazy if you wish, but I 'm onto something here. I also noticed several comparisons to the novel Deliverance by James Dickey, that almost parallel the events in Toy Story 3.

First off, in Toy Story 3, the toys were all going to a place that they did not know anything about (Sunnyside Day Care) and were expecting to have a great adventure, where more kids could play with them. Their dreams seemed to come true as they were welcomed whole-heartily into the day care by the other toys, and were assigned to a room to wait for the kids, despite the warnings by Woody that they had to get back home to Andy. They waited excitedly for the kids, but their first warning that something was amiss was the fact that all the other toys were hiding when the kids came back. Much of this is true in Deliverance, mainly in how Ed, Lewis, Bobby, and Drew all had no idea what was down the river, but wanted to have an adventure over a weekend. Every time they saw another person on their way to the river, the question was always "Why are you wanting to go down there if you don't know what's down there?" almost as if they knew something but didn't know how to tell the poor city folk. Woody and the locals were actually similar to each other by the fact that they each warn the groups, but the groups are so in tune to what they think they want that they do not listen. But the group didn't listen to them, and went on to their trip. When they reached the river, they were surprised at how calm and beautiful it looks, and began their trip. One warning sign that I noticed was how the river began to get swifter and have more obstacles in it, such as rocks and trash from farmers and the people of the area. In the movie, the toys figure out why the other toys were hiding, as they are knocked around and generally abused by the toddlers who don't know how to play with them any other way. The river party also comes to a crashing halt as Ed and Bobby are attacked by two of the hillbillies that live close to the river. The toys and the river party then quickly figure out that they received much more than they bargained for. They also act quickly to remedy the situations, the toys by sending Buzz out to talk to Lotso, the "leader" of Sunnyside, about a transfer, and Ed and Bobby being rescued by Lewis, who kills one of the hillbillies. Both of these events signal each group's beginning descent into a figurative Hell.

Next, both groups thought that they had solved their problems by their first actions, but they were unfortunately wrong. In Deliverance, after Lewis kills the hillbilly, the group gets back on their journey, only this time they are trying to get down river to find a way back to civilization. The group is traveling down the river, when suddenly Drew is shot by someone, causing panic and the canoes to capsize. They manage to make it out of the river, but not before going through a set of rapids that causes Lewis to break his leg and a canoe to be lost. A bad situation goes suddenly from bad to worse when the survivors realize that the other hillbilly that was not killed was the one who was shooting at them. Ed decides that they are in a bad situation and the only way to get himself, Bobby, and Lewis to safety, is to find the hillbilly and kill him before he can get to them. Not only does this decision cause Ed to do things he never thought he would do and make him play a deadly game of cat and mouse with a murderer, but he also learns that this is how the people in the hills did everything and that he is also becoming like them, almost like he is figuratively going into the very depths of Hell in order to survive. In Toy Story 3, the toys learn that the whole day care system revolves around the new toys being sent to the younger kids, to keep Lotso and the other older toys from being broken. To preserve this system, Lotso and the other toys capture Buzz and reprogram him to do what they want him to do, which involves locking the other toys in toy boxes each night. Woody, who was taken home by a little girl who's mother works at Sunnyside, learns from the other toys there about the truth about Sunnyside and Lotso, and begins to form a plan to get in and rescue his friends. Woody returns to Sunnyside, and like Ed, forms a risky plan to get everyone out safely. He also learns about why the Sunnyside hierarchy is set up the way it is, and it shocked me that it seemed like the more you learned about Sunnyside, the farther it did seem to descend into Hell, with the corruption and suffering increasing with every turn.

By the end of both the book and the movie, the symbolism of Hell seemed to get stronger. In Toy Story 3, the plot came to its climax as the toys were about to escape from Sunnyside, only to then confront Lotso and his cronies. All Lotso has to do is give the word and the toys will be thrown into the dumpster and be lost forever. But Woody has the element of surprise and information, revealing to Lotso's toys how he used them to cover up the feelings of. abandonment and anger he has carried for years. The other toys realize that they have been used and proceed to throw Lotso into the dumpster. The dumpster is then emptied by the garbage truck that pulls up, and Woody and the other toys fall in too. They then go to the dump and have to escape from the furnace that is burning up all the garbage, which looked a lot like a portal into Hell. All seemed lost and it looked like everything they had went through was for nothing until a little "divine intervention" saved them. In Deliverance, Ed scaled the cliffside and searched until he found a place where he thought that the remaining hilllbilly could possibly come to, and waited for him. The hillbilly came and Ed suprised him and killed him, beginning the cover ups that would have to take place to keep everything a secret. This seemed to be the final step into Hell that they took, with having to lie and hide the bodies of the hillbillies and their friend in the river to cover up everyone's sin. Sin to cover up sin. But after all this was done, the group set out down the seemingly endless river and found a bridge to cross up to and escape from everything the river stood for, almost like being pulled out of Hell and being saved.

This is the end of my comparisons about the symbolism in Toy Story 3 and Deliverance. Usually, many great stories have hidden meanings and it is interesting to discover these. I guess it is some aftereffect of being in advanced English for a few years. Also, an interesting tidbit to note is that Ned Beatey was in both the movie version of Deliverance and Toy Story 3. Coincidence? I think not.