Sorry this is late...I've been floating along in my own true-life drama "fog" this week, so now I'm playing "catch-up."

I'm not sure why Updike wrote this novel. It could have been a mistake that he made, or one of a friend. But I'm thinking maybe Rabbit is the father Updike never knew, or only vaguely remembers from his childhood. The message that he may be trying to convey is that the decisions that we make today-good or bad-may affect others for many years after we cease to even think about our actions.

Maybe that is what this whole study is about-the way people raise their children; the way individuals treats others; the way we as a society treat others; the effect of a murder on a community-all of these have a lasting affect on people, as individually or as a whole.

Whether we like it or not, our actions affect other people.