A Feminist Reading of Rabbit, Run
I do not like Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. This creation of John Updike, this man who abandons his pregnant wife and young child, and his alliance to the late 1950's feeling of unrest and rebellion makes me angry. Many times throughout this novel my cheeks flushed furiously and I could not contain my exasperated sighs. When I read the last sentences of Rabbit, Run and closed the book, I was disappointed. It was not because Updike fails to make it clear where or to whom Rabbit runs (home to his wife? back to the prostitute?). Surprisingly, I was most disappointed because the novel had come to an end. Although my reaction to Rabbit was negative, it was a very strong reaction; I had become emotionally involved. Because Updike created this anti-heroic but fascinating main character, I was absorbed into his world. I do not like Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, but because Updike's writerly skill, I understand him. And, by understanding him, I am able to realize the importance his place is among the most influential (particularly American) literary characters.
Part of the reason that Updike's novel (and the subsequent three Rabbit novels to follow) has become such an essential piece of literature in the American tradition is Rabbit himself. Although he is not likeable, there are various important aspects and depths to the character of Harry Angstrom that cannot be overlooked.
Some critics choose to look at the surface and explore Rabbit's nature comparatively with rabbits (the animal). There are many instances when we do see Rabbit acting much like his namesake. For example when he visits his parents home Updike describes this in very rabbit-like terms:
Rabbit stealthily approaches hi...
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...h him for anything.
Works Cited
Detweiler, Robert. John Updike. Indianapolis: Indiana University, 1984. 33-45.
Kielland-Lund, Erik. "The Americanness of Rabbit, Run: A Transatlantic View." New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 77-94.
O'Connell, Mary. Updike and the Patriarchal Dilemma. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1996. 13-36.
Pinsker, Sanford. "Restlessness in the 1950s: What Made Rabbit Run?" New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 53-76.
Stevick, Philip. "The Full Range of Updike's Prose." New Essays on Rabbit, Run. Ed. Stanley Trachtenberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 31-52.
Updike, John. Rabbit, Run. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1960.
Updike, John. "A & P" Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 6th Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002.
Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A & P'" Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 30, (1993) : Spring, pp. 127(7).
Updike, John. “A&P”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 864 - 869.
Sammy’s decision in the end to break away from the conformity that is in the A&P to establish himself is a raw truthful decision. He has chosen to follow his heart which Updike shows is what every person should do. This story is great for readers of all ages, because Sammy could be any person in modern contemporary society who is struggling to find themselves in a world dominated by conformity, rules, and standards of norms. Updike’s story is a powerful message to seek individualism. Although sometimes the road to self-identity is not known the journey getting there is worth all the while.
In his short story "A & P" John Updike utilizes a 19-year-old adolescent to show us how a boy gets one step closer to adulthood. Sammy, an A & P checkout clerk, talks to the reader with blunt first person observations setting the tone of the story from the outset. The setting of the story shows us Sammy's position in life and where he really wants to be. Through the characterization of Sammy, Updike employs a simple heroic gesture to teach us that actions have consequences and we are responsible for our own actions.
Growing up in Mississippi in the late Nineteenth Century and the early part of the Twentieth Century, young William Faulkner witnessed first hand the struggles his beloved South endured through their slow progression of rebuilding. These experiences helped to develop Faulkner’s writing style. “Faulkner deals almost exclusively with the Southern scene (with) the Civil War … always behind his work” (Warren 1310. His works however are not so much historical in nature but more like folk lore. This way Faulkner is not constrained to keep details accurate, instead he manipulate the story to share his on views leading the reader to conclude morals or lessons from his experience. Faulkner writes often and “sympathetically of the older order of the antebellum society. It was a society that valued honor, (and) was capable of heroic action” (Brooks 145) both traits Faulkner admired. These sympathetic views are revealed in the story “A Rose for Emily” with Miss Emily becoming a monument for the Antebellum South.
Two Works Cited John Updike’s story, "A&P," starts off: "In walks three girls in nothing but bathing suits," and that pretty much sums it all up (Updike 1026). In the story, not only are the girls in bathing suits looked upon as sex objects, but other women are negatively viewed as witches, farm animals, or slaves. This story is about how a young man in the early 1960’s viewed women as a whole, including his own mother.
Updike, John. “A & P.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly
If we compare William Faulkner's two short stories, 'A Rose for Emily' and 'Barn Burning', he structures the plots of these two stories differently. However, both of the stories note the effect of a father¡¦s teaching, and in both the protagonists Miss Emily and Sarty make their own decisions about their lives. The stories present major idea through symbolism that includes strong metaphorical meaning. Both stories affect my thinking of life.
In the stories “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talk about how two women are experiencing the same emotional situations they have to endure. Both of these stories express the emotional and physical trials the characters have to endure on an everyday basis. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” it shows a woman who is oppressed and is suffering from depression and loneliness. In “A Rose for Emily” it is showing the struggle of maintaining a tradition and struggling with depression. Both of the stories resemble uncontrollable changes and the struggles of acceptance the characters face during those changes.
Updike, John “A&P.” Exploring Literature: Writing and Arguing About Fiction, Poetry, Drama and The Essay.4th e. Ed. Frank Madden. New York: Pearson Longman, 2009. 496-501. Print.
Wells, Walter. "John Updike's 'A & P': a return visit to Araby.," Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 30, (1993) : Spring, pp. 127(7).
Bradbury attacks loss of literature in the society of Fahrenheit 451 to warn our current society about how literature is disappearing and the effects on the people are negative. While Montag is at Faber’s house, Faber explains why books are so important by saying, “Do you know why books such as this are so important? Because they have quality. And what does the word quality mean? To me it means texture. This book has pores” (79). Faber is trying to display the importance of books and how without them people lack quality information. In Electronics and the Decline of Books by Eli Noam it is predicted that “books will become secondary tools in academia, usurped by electronic media” and the only reason books will be purchased will be for leisure, but even that will diminish due to electronic readers. Books are significant because they are able to be passed down through generation. While online things are not concrete, you can not physically hold the words. Reading boost creativity and imagination and that could be lost by shifting to qui...
Within every story or poem, there is always an interpretation made by the reader, whether right or wrong. In doing so, one must thoughtfully analyze all aspects of the story in order to make the most accurate assessment based on the literary elements the author has used. Compared and contrasted within the two short stories, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, and John Updike’s “A&P,” the literary elements character and theme are made evident. These two elements are prominent in each of the differing stories yet similarities are found through each by studying the elements. The girls’ innocence and naivety as characters act as passages to show something superior, oppression in society shown towards women that is not equally shown towards men.
Tamkang Review. "John Updike's S." Tamkang Review 25.3-4 (Spring-Summer 1995): 379-405. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 126. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 2 Feb. 2012.