paper 2
James Crawford
English 215
July 29, 2006
John Updike’s Rabbit Run is a sad story about a young man who is tired of his miserable life. He has an alcoholic wife, a preschool child, and another baby on the way. At one time, he was an excellent basketball player, and he seems to draw much of his self-worth from that. He talks about it often and is very proud of his achievements in that area. However, all of the happiness that basketball brought him has faded now, and he is living a miserable life with his alcoholic wife and their child.
In this story, Updike uses a one family to symbolize a community. In the story, Eccles is the pastor that helps the family in need. He represents the churches in the community that help the families and groups that need help. Eccles takes Rabbit under his wing in an attempt to guide him back to his family. He uses settings other than church to show Rabbit that Janice and the children need him. The churches everywhere that try to mend broken marriages and families parallel this. For example, Edwards Road Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, invites children from the community to come play basketball. While the children are playing basketball, the parents have a chance to interact with church members who can counsel and help them with their family life. They also have marriage counseling and seminars as well as marriage retreats where couples go somewhere for the weekend and do activities designed to strengthen relationships. In addition to that, there are after school programs for troubled youth and children who are in need of guidance and teaching. Unfortunately, however, the church is often marked by isolated events that tarnish its reputation. A recent example of this is the child molestation scandal in the Catholic Church. The actions of a few men marked the good that millions of believers were doing. In Rabbit Run, Eccles does everything in his power to be the glue that holds the family together. He is there every time Rabbit leaves. He is there when Janice that drowns the baby. He is the epitome of what the church should be and strives to be in communities.
Rabbit can represent the parents or members of society that “go astray”. These are people that act in ways that socially unacceptable. These are the people that leave their families, use drugs, are alcoholics etc. Rabbit leaves his family and ends up living with a prostitute. Anyone could understand why he wants to leave. He has an alcoholic wife, an undisciplined son, and two meddling in-laws. All of this, however, does not excuse his behavior. His irresponsibility indirectly leads to the destructions of more than one life. He is alone, jobless, homeless, and spending money faster than he is making it. His actions affected everyone around him. Janice now has to live with the fact that she murdered her own child. If he had paid attention to her when the problems started, maybe they never would have gone to this extreme. There is a possibility that she could have overcome her addictions and been a mother to her children. As it is now, she leaves Nelson with in-laws more than she keeps him, and she drinks while pregnant, thereby putting their unborn child in danger, and eventually drowns her newborn baby. Nelson now has a broken home with an alcoholic mother and an absent father. Rabbit’s actions were selfish and bordering on cruel to his child. Nelson will never know what it is like to have a normal family with two parents who love and care for him. His life will now consist of being passed from grandparent to grandparent. He will always have the stigma of someone who is the child of a murderer. The grandparents are supposed to be living a carefree retirement. Instead, they are caring for an unstable daughter, a neglected grandchild, and the death of another grandchild. Rabbit’s actions indirectly caused them pain and suffering at a time when they should have been enjoying the spoils of their hard work.
In the community, Janice represents the overworked and underappreciated mothers who spend too much time worrying about outside problems and not enough time caring for their children. They are so concerned with keeping up appearances that they let the things that really matter slip. She finds it more important to get drunk than to take care of her family, Rabbit and Nelson. Mothers in today’s society work full time jobs and take much better care of their families than Janice does and she stays at home during the day. While she does have a lot of responsibility, she handles it in the worst way possible. She is the perfect example of how to NOT be a good mother. Most of this is not Rabbit’s fault, but he does make it worse by his insensitivity and distance emotionally.
Nelson represents the children who are the unfortunate victims of these situations. Nelson is hardly mentioned in the book, further symbolizing how these children are neglected and left to fend for themselves. They are the true victims of stories like this one. Rabbit brings his punishments on himself. Janice lets herself be controlled by alcohol and self-pity, but Nelson is thrust into this situation with no control and no way out.
Unfortunately, there are many examples of men leaving their families to chase dreams of freedom or of being single again. One such example is Perry Smith’s father in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. John “Tex” Smith, his wife Flo, and their children traveled all over the country doing rodeo shows. Tex’s rodeo riding could be compared to Rabbit’s basketball playing. It was something in which he excelled, and much of his self-image was wrapped up in being good at it. The comparisons between John “Tex” Smith and Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom do not stop there. They both had dreams that were almost unattainable. For Tex, it was the dream of being getting rich quickly. He traveled all over the country and lived in his van chasing this dream. He even built a hunting lodge that failed miserably. For Rabbit, it was the dream of having no responsibility. He dreamed of having no problems and wandering through life doing whatever he wished. For this reason, he left his wife and child. He moved in with a prostitute, quit his job, and made all new friends. He seems to have an almost childlike mentality. Any rational adult could figure out that any happiness he gets from doing those things is only temporary. Once the last paycheck runs out, he is going to be destitute, with no job, no car, and no friends. Also, the way he interacts with Ruth, and the reasons he has for his actions are almost childlike. He seems to treat her like he has no understanding of their relationship. He moves in after knowing her for one night, he begs her not to use contraceptives, and he tells her he loves her. He seems to think that their relationship is much more personal than business. Ruth seems to be slightly annoyed if not intrigued by this unstable man. Much in the same way, Tex’s dream was childlike. Most rational people know that there is no get rich quick scheme, and that there is no way of just walking away from your responsibilities. Case in point, Rabbit thought he was free until he got the call that Janice had gone into labor. No matter how much he wanted to be free of the worries of a family, he needed to be present for the birth of his child.
In a way, one must give Rabbit credit for trying to make it work when he went back. In the end though, it was still his selfishness that brought the end. Janice gave the marriage a half-hearted effort when Rabbit went back the first time. In a way, she figured that it was his mess to clean up and that he needed to take the initiative of mending their broken relationship. The problem was that Rabbit did not want to be there in the first place. He had no interest in making their relationship work. The only thing he cared about was his own happiness. Therefore, when Janice wouldn’t perform the same sexual acts as the prostitute, he walked out again. This time, the only thing that brought him back was a tragedy.
In an alcoholic stupor, Janice drowned their newborn child. This is the ultimate example of irresponsibility, abuse and neglect. What happened to this infant represents the terrible things that happen in every community. There is abuse, neglect, and cruelty in every society that victimizes the innocent. Rabbit’s actions ultimately led to the death of an innocent child. Eccles is once again called in to help in this time of tragedy, and the grandparents are again called to comfort and help Janice.
In the end, Rabbit finally leaves for good. He leaves his in-laws to care for their wreck of a daughter, leaves his son to fend for himself, and leaves Eccles to clean up the mess that he left. He, once again, chooses the easy route with no responsibility.
This story is a sad example of many families and even many communities today. The different characters represent factions of the community and the problems they must deal with. It is unfortunate that people like Eccles stay so busy, but fortunate that they are there. Their kindness and generosity keep stories like this from being much more routine than they are.
English 215
July 29, 2006
John Updike’s Rabbit Run is a sad story about a young man who is tired of his miserable life. He has an alcoholic wife, a preschool child, and another baby on the way. At one time, he was an excellent basketball player, and he seems to draw much of his self-worth from that. He talks about it often and is very proud of his achievements in that area. However, all of the happiness that basketball brought him has faded now, and he is living a miserable life with his alcoholic wife and their child.
In this story, Updike uses a one family to symbolize a community. In the story, Eccles is the pastor that helps the family in need. He represents the churches in the community that help the families and groups that need help. Eccles takes Rabbit under his wing in an attempt to guide him back to his family. He uses settings other than church to show Rabbit that Janice and the children need him. The churches everywhere that try to mend broken marriages and families parallel this. For example, Edwards Road Baptist Church in Greenville, SC, invites children from the community to come play basketball. While the children are playing basketball, the parents have a chance to interact with church members who can counsel and help them with their family life. They also have marriage counseling and seminars as well as marriage retreats where couples go somewhere for the weekend and do activities designed to strengthen relationships. In addition to that, there are after school programs for troubled youth and children who are in need of guidance and teaching. Unfortunately, however, the church is often marked by isolated events that tarnish its reputation. A recent example of this is the child molestation scandal in the Catholic Church. The actions of a few men marked the good that millions of believers were doing. In Rabbit Run, Eccles does everything in his power to be the glue that holds the family together. He is there every time Rabbit leaves. He is there when Janice that drowns the baby. He is the epitome of what the church should be and strives to be in communities.
Rabbit can represent the parents or members of society that “go astray”. These are people that act in ways that socially unacceptable. These are the people that leave their families, use drugs, are alcoholics etc. Rabbit leaves his family and ends up living with a prostitute. Anyone could understand why he wants to leave. He has an alcoholic wife, an undisciplined son, and two meddling in-laws. All of this, however, does not excuse his behavior. His irresponsibility indirectly leads to the destructions of more than one life. He is alone, jobless, homeless, and spending money faster than he is making it. His actions affected everyone around him. Janice now has to live with the fact that she murdered her own child. If he had paid attention to her when the problems started, maybe they never would have gone to this extreme. There is a possibility that she could have overcome her addictions and been a mother to her children. As it is now, she leaves Nelson with in-laws more than she keeps him, and she drinks while pregnant, thereby putting their unborn child in danger, and eventually drowns her newborn baby. Nelson now has a broken home with an alcoholic mother and an absent father. Rabbit’s actions were selfish and bordering on cruel to his child. Nelson will never know what it is like to have a normal family with two parents who love and care for him. His life will now consist of being passed from grandparent to grandparent. He will always have the stigma of someone who is the child of a murderer. The grandparents are supposed to be living a carefree retirement. Instead, they are caring for an unstable daughter, a neglected grandchild, and the death of another grandchild. Rabbit’s actions indirectly caused them pain and suffering at a time when they should have been enjoying the spoils of their hard work.
In the community, Janice represents the overworked and underappreciated mothers who spend too much time worrying about outside problems and not enough time caring for their children. They are so concerned with keeping up appearances that they let the things that really matter slip. She finds it more important to get drunk than to take care of her family, Rabbit and Nelson. Mothers in today’s society work full time jobs and take much better care of their families than Janice does and she stays at home during the day. While she does have a lot of responsibility, she handles it in the worst way possible. She is the perfect example of how to NOT be a good mother. Most of this is not Rabbit’s fault, but he does make it worse by his insensitivity and distance emotionally.
Nelson represents the children who are the unfortunate victims of these situations. Nelson is hardly mentioned in the book, further symbolizing how these children are neglected and left to fend for themselves. They are the true victims of stories like this one. Rabbit brings his punishments on himself. Janice lets herself be controlled by alcohol and self-pity, but Nelson is thrust into this situation with no control and no way out.
Unfortunately, there are many examples of men leaving their families to chase dreams of freedom or of being single again. One such example is Perry Smith’s father in Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. John “Tex” Smith, his wife Flo, and their children traveled all over the country doing rodeo shows. Tex’s rodeo riding could be compared to Rabbit’s basketball playing. It was something in which he excelled, and much of his self-image was wrapped up in being good at it. The comparisons between John “Tex” Smith and Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom do not stop there. They both had dreams that were almost unattainable. For Tex, it was the dream of being getting rich quickly. He traveled all over the country and lived in his van chasing this dream. He even built a hunting lodge that failed miserably. For Rabbit, it was the dream of having no responsibility. He dreamed of having no problems and wandering through life doing whatever he wished. For this reason, he left his wife and child. He moved in with a prostitute, quit his job, and made all new friends. He seems to have an almost childlike mentality. Any rational adult could figure out that any happiness he gets from doing those things is only temporary. Once the last paycheck runs out, he is going to be destitute, with no job, no car, and no friends. Also, the way he interacts with Ruth, and the reasons he has for his actions are almost childlike. He seems to treat her like he has no understanding of their relationship. He moves in after knowing her for one night, he begs her not to use contraceptives, and he tells her he loves her. He seems to think that their relationship is much more personal than business. Ruth seems to be slightly annoyed if not intrigued by this unstable man. Much in the same way, Tex’s dream was childlike. Most rational people know that there is no get rich quick scheme, and that there is no way of just walking away from your responsibilities. Case in point, Rabbit thought he was free until he got the call that Janice had gone into labor. No matter how much he wanted to be free of the worries of a family, he needed to be present for the birth of his child.
In a way, one must give Rabbit credit for trying to make it work when he went back. In the end though, it was still his selfishness that brought the end. Janice gave the marriage a half-hearted effort when Rabbit went back the first time. In a way, she figured that it was his mess to clean up and that he needed to take the initiative of mending their broken relationship. The problem was that Rabbit did not want to be there in the first place. He had no interest in making their relationship work. The only thing he cared about was his own happiness. Therefore, when Janice wouldn’t perform the same sexual acts as the prostitute, he walked out again. This time, the only thing that brought him back was a tragedy.
In an alcoholic stupor, Janice drowned their newborn child. This is the ultimate example of irresponsibility, abuse and neglect. What happened to this infant represents the terrible things that happen in every community. There is abuse, neglect, and cruelty in every society that victimizes the innocent. Rabbit’s actions ultimately led to the death of an innocent child. Eccles is once again called in to help in this time of tragedy, and the grandparents are again called to comfort and help Janice.
In the end, Rabbit finally leaves for good. He leaves his in-laws to care for their wreck of a daughter, leaves his son to fend for himself, and leaves Eccles to clean up the mess that he left. He, once again, chooses the easy route with no responsibility.
This story is a sad example of many families and even many communities today. The different characters represent factions of the community and the problems they must deal with. It is unfortunate that people like Eccles stay so busy, but fortunate that they are there. Their kindness and generosity keep stories like this from being much more routine than they are.
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