Deliver Us From Eden

Corky Dodds a rattlesnake wrangler in his early fifties is overconfident egotistical and hyper-masculine and the most powerful person in the small West Texas town of Edens Lair. He is the organizer and undisputed king of the towns singular claim to fame the Edens Lair Rattlesnake Roundup an event that provides the backdrop for a tale of tyranny misogyny incest and redemption. Corky says were just trying to control the species but evidence abounds that the Roundup functions as more of a psychological than a physical purging of an imagined threat inspired by the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.Corkys son Valjean is Edens Lairs only resident who questions the motives of the Roundup. Rose McCleary is a Dallas transplant and fourth-grade school teacher living in Edens Lair and Rose and Valjean develop deep feelings for each other. Valjeans devotion to Rose and concern for his abused sister Darlynn creates a son-against-father conflict that climaxes when Valjean rejects both his father and his environment putting Rose in a life-or-death situation.During weekend rattlesnake roundup events as the snakes are waking up from their winter brumation (the extreme slowing down of metabolism) thousands of rattlesnakes are hunted and captured. Men in paramilitary attire who in everyday life are ranchers and business owners transform into mythic heroes armed with snake hooks trash cans and gas canisters. They collectively storm local snake dens spraying gas into their hiding places to force the hapless torpid snakes into the open air. The captured snakes are deposited in holding bins later to be milked butchered skinned and eaten and this elaborate ritual is inspired by the notion that snakes are a deadly threat.The rattlesnake roundup in Deliver Us From Eden expresses its distortions in the characters that populate the screenplay such as Kundoo the storys mystic and convenience store manager; Dr. Ennis the corrupt town physician; Junior Snake Wranglers Chuck and Steve; Richard Roses husband whom she left behind in Dallas; and Bob the Master of Ceremonies for the Miss Snake Charmer contest.Deliver Us From Eden explores the evidence that abounds that roundups are more of a psychological than a physical purging are a ritual reinforcement of traditional roles and a murderous paradigm for the superstitious link between snakes women and evil. Perhaps it is more than snakes that the Edens Lair Roundup purports to control and Deliver Us From Eden explicates this theme.