The world of RABBIT, RUN is one in which the past and present become intermingled. Harry constantly looks to the past for inspiration and comfort. Other people look back with a certain sadness. Write an essay about the past's role in the novel:

Part 1) How do Harry and Janice look back on the beginning of their relationship with a mixture of yearning and disdain? What did each expect from the relationship? How did the birth of Nelson change things?

Part 2) What is the high point of Harry Angstrom's life? What memory from this high water mark does he repeatedly recall throughout the novel? What does this memory do for him?

Part 3) What specific episodes from Ruth's past does she recall as she lays by the swimming pool with Harry? How do these memories inform her expectations from Harry? What does she expect and fear?

Essay Topic 2

John Updike - like Charles Dickens - makes use of evocative names to project character in this novel. Write an essay about three of these names. How do they reflect the essential personality of the person they denote? What does the reader expect with he or she reads these names?

Part 1) Harry Angstrom (strom means storm in German)

Part 2) Marty Tothero (tother means "the other" in Middle English)

Part 3) Jack Eccles

Essay Topic 3

Jack Eccles is one of the more dynamic figures in the novel. He represents a new attitude toward religion and its place in a modern world. Write an essay about Jack Eccles and his struggle with both the extremely traditional view of his vocation (as represented by Reverend Kruppenbach) and the secular modernist view (as represented by his wife). How does Eccles' relationship with Harry make manifest this inner struggle to understand his own faith?

(see the answer keys)

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