The development of a character whose limited mental capacity is at odds with his physical strength may be influenced by John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937). The crisis of a group of young people forced to confront evil without the support of civilized society is reminiscent of William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies (1954), and the climactic scene in which a major character can save himself or herself only by killing a depraved oppressor may owe something to Deliverance (1970) by James Dickey. The sacramental tone may also reflect that of Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952). Like William Faulkner, Phillips develops multiple perspectives by presenting different characters' viewpoints in separate sections. While Phillips's individual sections are less complex rhetorically, they also suffer from Faulkner's problem of too much similarity in voice.