Harry tries to escape all problems in Rabbit, Run

Rabbit, Run was published in 1960, the second novel and first of the popular “Rabbit” books by author John Updike. Cleverly written, Updike makes you feel one thing in the beginning, but has reversed it on you by the end.

Harry “Rabbit’ Angstrom is a 26 year old former high school star athlete, and is still living in the past. He dreams of all his high school triumphs, now nearly 10 years ago. He is married to Janice, a woman he doesn’t love; she’s an alcoholic and pregnant with his second child, and it was the first pregnancy that forced Harry into marriage in the first place. He is at a dead-end job that pays little, and one day wakes up from his stupor and decides to leave.

As a reader we root for Rabbit from the beginning. He is a likable guy, popular in high school and has a natural charm. I was a little torn at his decision to up and leave his wife suddenly, but she is made out to be such a lech that you don’t feel too sorry for her. Rabbit settles down with another girl, Ruth, one town over. He is good to her, in fact the first guy to be really good to her maybe ever in her life. She is guarded towards him but does start to open up. Once a week Rabbit plays golf with Jack Eccles, a young Episcopal priest. Ostensibly Eccles is trying to get Rabbit and his wife back together, but really he is just hanging out with the charming Rabbit as an escape from his own boring life. Rabbit’s little “vacation” is turned upside down 2 months later, when Janice finally has their baby and Rabbit comes back home, leaving Ruth suddenly on a very sour note.

By now in the book we are starting to see more and more that Rabbit is not quite the great guy we all thought and hoped he was. He has shown the reader a lot of his personal thoughts and feelings. We’ve seen him mentally undress women that he is around, including his friend Eccles’ wife. Egotistical, he believes others are always thinking about him. When he tries to get Janice to sleep with him, and she refuses due to just having gave birth, he flips out and leaves again. This time Janice, who has been clean and trying to be a good wife, slips. She goes on a binge, which ultimately ends with the tragic accidental drowning of their new baby.

Rabbit’s true nature is at last revealed. He returns for the funeral but can’t approach anyone, avoiding all confrontations and only really caring about what he will do next. He even shrugs when asked what will become of his son. He returns to Ruth, who has hidden her own pregnancy until now. Ruth is done with him, until he promises he is finally leaving his wife for good. He goes outside, but instead of going to get them lunch as he said, he takes off running again.

A very good read, and it does have 3 sequels which I’ll try to fit in to see how Rabbit’s life turns out, if he ever grows up and does anything for good. At the end, I felt sick at myself for ever having liked such a scum, but that is all due to Updike’s brilliant style. As Rabbit continued to do worse and worse things, Updike made it seem like there was some redeeming quality just coming up that would make everything ok, until you realize right at the very end no such enlightenment was coming.