Literary Review of Rabbit Run by John Updike John Updike's novel, Rabbit, Run, is about a man named Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom. Rabbit is a brainless guy whose career as a high school basketball star peaked at age 18. In his wife's view, he was, before their early, hasty marriage, already drifting downhill. We meet him for the first time in this novel, when he is 22, and a salesman in the local department store. Married to the second best sweetheart of his high school years, he is the father of a preschool son and husband to an alcoholic wife. We are at ground zero watching Rabbit struggle with aging, religion, sexuality (particularly sexuality), nature, and the trade-offs between freedom and attachment, and rebellion and …show more content…
It's a well-traveled premise for a novel, but executed and polished to a hilt. As we see Rabbit Angstrom struggle to keep apace with his given life, we are meant to see the social milieu that he lives in. Readers do get an acute sense of time and place, but what of it? Not that all fiction should strive for the Meaning of Life, but the feeling you get after reading 'Rabbit, Run' is that of caffeine rush which you know will fade. And it does. I don't mean to slight Updike's legacy - he is one of the best writers we have in the States. And read as a tetralogy, the Rabbit books do encapsulate four decades of Americana with a sprawling and lyrical sweep. It truly is an accomplishment. As an individual novel, 'Rabbit, Run' is emotionally involving and a hell of a good read. But it moves us tantalizingly close to showing us what literary greatness is, then ultimately leaves us short. Has life ever seemed to much for you? Do you sometimes just want get away from it all? Well, here is a man that does it all for you, Mr. Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. He is the man for running away from just about anything that is a conflict for him. Updike investigates this unfortunate soul of the suburban middle-class with the use of many similes, metaphors, motifs, and imagery. In "Rabbit, Run," John Updike's simple language brings reality to the central character of Harry and his boredom and disgust with his present life. In his early
Everyday, Brother takes Doodle to Old Woman Swamp and the same thing happens: he grabs his little brother, stands him up, then Doodle collapses soon after. Through hard work and perseverance, Doodle eventually learns to walk on his own. Brother gains confidence in Doodle, and now believes in his own ability to do nothing wrong. In Old Woman Swamp, Brother also creates a development program for Doodle. Brother and Doodle’s relationship is beginning to flourish, “Doodle and I spent lots of time thinking about our future. We decided that when we were grown we’d live in Old Woman Swamp and pick dog-tongue for a living...Mama and Daddy could come and live with us if they wanted to. He even came up with the idea that he could marry Mama and I could marry Daddy” (Hurst 4). The daily trips Doodle and Brother take to Old Woman Swamp together slowly strengthen their bond. The beauty of Old Woman Swamp allows Doodle to imagine a perfect world. His innocence causes him to not understand that his idea of a ‘perfect world’ is never going to become a reality. Brother is old enough to know everything Doodle is imagining is a lie, but the picture he is painting is so serene, that all Brother could think to do was to agree. Doodle cherishes every second he has with his older brother, and Brother realizes how precious his little brother really is. Old Woman Swamp is a land of fantasy, whose warmth and comfort gives the two brothers a safe haven.
Depression has the ability to control one’s behavior. In Rabbit Run, John Updike uses Janice and Rabbit to portray depression’s manipulative way of destroying a person. Through many articles, it is explained how the effects of depression cause a downwards spiral of self destruction. Many authors have explored the effects of depression and linked it alcohol abuse as well. This can be easily compared to Janice’s alcohol consumption throughout the book and how it lead her to her downfall and eventual murder of her daughter as well as Rabbit’s indecisive mind. As Rabbit runs from Janice in an attempt to chase his youth, he is just as numb as his wife. Janice drinks her pain away. However, this does not only affect Janice, but her whole family. Her kids are dragged into this situation as well. As one character struggles through depression and all that results from it, the rest of her family is dragged through it with her.
The book Watership Down by Richard Adams, is a story that was once told to his children and has been put into a novel. The book shows us the ups and downs during a journey of many rabbits. These rabbits talk in their own language and embark on a crazy journey to a new land. Sandleford is the current home of the rabbits and their journey will take them to Cowslips Warren, there part time home. We will focus on life in Sandleford, the life in Cowslips Warren and the individual rabbits who chose to go on this journey together.
Joey R. Poole presents an intriguing story in “The Hand-Me-Downs.” Simon is a straight shooting kid that follows rules and does not ask many questions. But later in the story, the reader can tell that the violence surrounding Simon erodes his attitude. He begins to stand up to his brother and he begins to understand that he has free will. At the beginning of the story, the reader can tell that Simon is a typical innocent young kid but by the end of the story, the reader is convinced otherwise. Simon changes as the story progresses representing a dynamic character rather than a static character.
In Richard Wright’s “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” Dave finds himself throughout the course of the story. Throughout the story, Dave is constantly seeking the pleasure of obtaining and then eventually shooting a gun in order to be a man and find himself. However, Dave does not expect the consequences that are to follow the pursuit of pleasure. The moral of the story pertains to the role pleasure and its consequences have in development and finding oneself. The story narrates a common, but little talked about problem, that runs rampant in today’s society. In the story “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” Richard Wright illustrates Dave’s development, or lack thereof, through the symbols of the gun, the train, and the mule.
The novel titled Always Running is titled this because the main character Grillo is constantly running from society, family, and away from gangs. You might ask yourself why is the novel titled Always Running? and its because in the novel he is running all the time. One example of Grillo constantly running is when he and his family would run away from the society in which they lived in. They would run from the racism, disrespect, and criticism.
"This world belongs to the strong, my friend...The rabbit accept its role on the Earth and recognize the wolf as the strong. In defense, the rabbit becomes frightened and elusive and dig holes and hides when the wolf about. It knows its place. It most certainly doesn't challenge the wolf"(Excerpt from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey). In the book Speak the author uses a bunny rabbit to symbolize how vulnerable Melinda is throughout the book and a wolf to symbolize how Andy is a grim beast in Melinda's eyes. Melinda uses a bunnyrabbit to describe how she feels whenever Andy encounters her. Andy is described like a wolf all throughout the book by
In Ken Kesey’s ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, the setting confines the reader to a small ward of an asylum. With most patients fearing what is beyond the white walls, the Head Nurse, Miss Ratched is claimed to be the ‘wolf’. The Head Nurse asserts her power over her ward through emasculating, manipulating and controlling her patients and staff. One patient nicknamed Harding, realizes this while explaining to a new patient how Miss Ratched maintains her power. Through the monologue, the patient uses an analogy of the world of rabbits, wherein the strongest are the wolves. Introducing the boundaries of this society, Harding says “All of us here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees” (62). He is belittling all but Miss Ratched by stating
The short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” is about two brothers who have to overcome hardship. The narrator, Doodle’s brother, tries his hardest to help his brother walk and run like he can. He wants a brother who can keep up with him. Doodle tries hard to please his brother, and he never gives up. The author James Hurst, from the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” uses diction and figurative language to prove that Doodle is devoted and lively even though he is frail.
The book When Rabbit Howls is a shocking, confusing, but interesting book to read. The book is written by the person whom was victimized. The author, Truddi Chase was raped at the age of two by her stepfather until the age of sixteen and ever since then ninety-two voices have lived within her. With the help of Robert A. Phillips,Jr.,her therapist, or as she refers to him Stanley, she is able to discover the effect of her childhood trauma. This book does not only consist of the Truddi and Staley, but the other troop members whom “live” inside her as well. They each become present with the time as she assists therapy sessions.
In John Updike’s short story, A&P the writer takes you on a youths memory that involves the choices and consequences that life can deal to anyone who has not had time to test a rash decision. The narrator is an immature nineteen-year-old cashier who is about to make a giant leap from adolescence to manhood. Sammy narrates with opinions of not only his life, but also the people in the town. Sammy opposes with the way these people live their lives, and is determined to set a different course for his future. The author uses characterization, symbolism, and setting to explain Sammy's life issues such as decision-making, result of action, and responsibility. The story illustrates that part of growing up is about making choices and a willingness
More than once in every man’s life he has yearned for something that is out of his reach. Whether it be fashionable clothes, an elaborate home, a newer car, or a more desirable career, some things are unattainable. George Milton, one of the main characters
Alice following the rabbit down the hole shows the curiosity she, like most other children, has. She follows the rabbit throughout Wonderland, almost as if it’s a guide. The rabbit can also be seen as an older figure in Alice’s life that sparks the curiosity into adulthood for her. Alice sees something intriguing in that person and their being older that gets her curious as to what it might be, just as a talking rabbit might spring her interest. She looks up to them and wants to have the qualities they do. Alice follows the rabbit as she would this person to quench her curiosity and see exactly what is going on in this part of life that Alice is so far naive to.
The Victorian Era was a time where not many ethical ideals and moral standards were sustained. Yet, it is also an Era in which modern society uses to make advancements in both humanity, and philosophy. Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, was a novelist who wrote pass his time. He wrote further in the future of the "common" Victorian Era. The ideology he presents in Alice in Wonderland is conducive to an individual attempting to bring attention to the deteriorating mental health and humane conditions in Victorian-Era England. Alice is representative of a normal child in everyday-Victorian England. This child, Alice, has not been exposed to the likes of diversity, but instead solidarity. The type of solidarity that is all too prevalent throughout the Victorian Era, primarily in the upbringing of children during this time. Children in Victorian Era England were taught to be followers of the norms already established by adults, and to ask no questions. These types of parameters placed restraints on children growing-up during this time; not only physical restraints, but also mental restraints, such as their imaginations'. Carroll was no stranger to this ideal or the likes of this concept; In fact, he constructed Alice in The Wonderland with this in mind, to defy the imaginative 'norm' of Victorian-Era England. He created a character that dreamt of falling down a rabbit hole into another universe. This dream or imagination becomes so vivid in his novel that the
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll endures as one of the most iconic children 's books of all time. It remains one of the most ambiguous texts to decipher as Alice 's adventures in Wonderland have created endless critical debate as to whether we can deduce any true literary meaning, or moral implication from her journey down the rabbit hole. Alice 's station as a seven year old Victorian child creates an interesting construct within the novel as she attempts to navigate this magical parallel plain, yet retain her Victorian sensibilities and learn from experience as she encounters new creatures and life lessons. Therefore, this essay will focus on the debate as to whether Alice is the imaginatively playful child envisaged by the Romantics, or a Victorian child whose imagination has been stunted by her education and upbringing.