Rabbit, Run

"Rabbit, Run"
John Updike, 1960.

The tale of a young man, determined to break free of his oppresive life. He abandons his family and takes up a girlfriend and the novel chases him around, through his many mental loops, thoughts and considerations and circles of fearful logic.

Every person feels trapped about certain things. Friend groups. Studies or work. Relationships. When it gets too much you've got options, and one of them is the run. This is Rabbit's such story, and we find him being a man against the world, as many novels in the List tend to be. Reading about his many nights running from person to person from his past remind me of my own night's when it's all felt like too much, and I've simply got up and moved anywhere to get the feeling of being trapped out of me, and to be rid of stagnation.

He's a fun character and not without benefits. He's quite a loner, as the only people he can play basketball with are much younger, and find he ruins the game. A highschool champ in his time, even his original passtimes are against him. His family, including a wife and child, is the same dreary drudge every day, and with another child on the way he baulks. He could have been a bigger man and stayed around, but he doesn't stray too far.

His girlfriend, Ruth, feels the fear of falling in love with someone when you're the person on the side. The stoic refusal slowly depreciates into daydream wonderings of what if? and then turn into Oh please yes! She's as much a character as Rabbit is, working nights to make enough money to pay rent and feed herself despite not having a job. She's as blunt and simple as Rabbit is at times, so compliments him in his run, and becomes a place away from everything.

The local holyman also takes Rabbit under his wing, hoping to somehow redeem the lost soul. He seems on Rabbit's side of things, agreeing with the pressures of life while not actively condoning the running from your problems. The relationship they share is one of beared annoyance, as Rabbit wont be swayed from his way, but the priest feels accomplished and endeared to his waylaid child all the same.

His wife is a poorly figure who features as the main pull back to his old life, despite things not really changing, or having changed, at any particular point. To look at the book and it's main event without emotion we see a human's who burst a valve and decided they can't take the pressure--but for how long? The question doesn't become whether everyone blames Rabbit or not, loyalties are indeed called into question and everyone just about places their opinion on the table, but that makes for a simple and boring story without the What next? His pregnant wife allows the story to swing back into itself when it comes time for her to begin giving birth, calling Rabbit back into the joy of his family, the reason he's wound up in the mess he can't currently take.

Whether he will return isn't the question, so much as WHEN he will. Ruth fears it, and knows that he's run away before from someone more dear then she herself is. His wife patiently expects and hates it and needs it at the same time. His parents and his wife's parents are split on it, knowing how very hard he was pushed by his wife in the first place.

It's a complicated and serious look at the central figure of many people's lives, that of the white boy extraordinare, the one man who's forced into a situation (or they see themself as forced into it) and then after breaking the initial accepted mold of their life, continue to tread down as many walls, fences and social boundaries as they see fit. As the book tells us, "If you have the guts to be yourself...other people'll pay your price". I agree with this sentiment entirely.

Rabbit is a jerk but not without being pushed to it. He repents and he sins again, like everyone. He does everything and isn't evil and isn't good. He's man, as man is sometimes to be, scared and small, with headlights turning away your nighttime vision. When you see a car headed for you, what do you do but run?

The best thing about the book is it's ending, of which I can only say that John Updike deserves a pat on the back and his choice of beverage at the bar of his choosing. I'm a big fan of thematic matches, and seeing Scene 1 lead into Scene 3 with an odd item that winds up being a critical plotpoint.

I imagine this book will gain a lot of "me too" moments from readers, as Rabbit isn't meant to gain sympathy so much as exemplify a tormented soul, which we all feel like at one time or another. Whether you agree with what he did, he's relatable, and tells a very good story or "guy running away from things." This sounds like a boring concept, but it's thrilling in his mild successfuls, sweet in his concessions and small returns to his old way of life, but mostly it's about how we all deal with these great human events that constantly occur around, drama.

Man versus the World

A theme I've noticed amongst the List's book is that of a single man, versus the world. Either in a bid against all that is wrong (Winston Smith from 1984) or in naughty boy terms (Alex D'Large from Clockwork Orange) or for the right of human dignity (McMurphy in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest) we see a lot of men fighting for what they believe in.

The old days of simple cowboys ver indians shows, or comic book days when Batman killed a bad guy because he was labeled as such, are long gone and worth nothing more than a comical glance back. These days fights aren't acceptable without being about something real. Spiderman fights for the people who can't defend themselves, not because decking the Green Goblin is cool. Batman serves to keep the law and order of a depraved city, not because Poison Ivy is scantilly clad. A reason needs to exist for fighting, any kind, to be OK and acceptable for the readerage.

How you actually write that up and tie it into your story is up to you. Without a proper reasoning though we get basically an "action" story/movie, such as 2012. It's wide spread destruction because the Earth's collapsing. OK, city's blow up. That's the point. It's a thrill ride, an "Imagine that!" scenario, and afterwards not very nourishing, mentally.

The books on the List I've read so far fit fantastically into the man versus the world genre, but with amazingly relevant points. The most harrowing may be Lord of the Flies, as Ralph defends sense and law and being civilised to each other, while Jack wants none of it and resorts very easily to his hunter instincts. There is blood and guts and death, but Ralph is fighting for perhaps the most valuable thing to a human -- civility. Without rules and governing, there's nothing to stop your food from being stolen and your house overrun by sitters. The world we live in needs these rules for basic living, traffic lights for driving and Rights of Way and so on.

As well as needing a valid reason to fight, it doesn't hurt that all of these characters are likeable, despite certain evils or large gaps in their own gusto/balls/courage. Alex D'Large, despite all the ultra violence and rape, is still a sympathetic character as we see how he's treated in his mental reconditioning. We know what he's done but some how still care, as he caringly calls us his "dear readers" and "my only friends in this great big world." Despite the crime, their charisma keeps us reading. We don't cheer for him, perhaps, but we keep reading his story to see further points he makes.

I can relate to all such characters in one way or another, and seeing I get an in-book avatar of sorts, and that "I" am fighting for a deep and true human quality, I'm drawn well and truly into a book and hope I come out good in the end. Alright!

That's what the story is meant to do, right? Get me into the book, into the characters, and accepting of the point being made, whatever it is. Government over-control is bad. Super-sluethes are amazing. Dignity is worth a damn.

All these books make points and do it well, though I do have to see a story yet that does as well with a female protagonist. Really. Off the top of my head I can't think of any right now, as even someone as "girl power" as Charlie's Angels falls way off the "done properly" scale, seeing they're relegated to just action, looking 'hot' (it makes the boys drool) and not being taken seriously. For further examples, Cat Woman and Elektra the movie were among the first comic book hero failures. This isn't aimed at the Time's list so much as all medias, and it's quite laughable that the only unsexualised "girl power" group I can name is the Powerpuff Girls.

Rabbit, Run is a good story for anyone you know who's not old enough to get married yet, who's in the exact same position, or has done the same thing themselves. Also of course everyone who wants a good read that's into writing themselves. In fact I'll take this small moment to say that that should be a given, I do suggest all these books and I've only read about 20 myself.

I think the man versus the world stories work best, because they represent the start of something, not just the fighting for a worthwhile idea. If they can fight, AND WIN, then surely they've pathed the way for others, and more should follow and finish the job our hero started. None more so then Winston Smith, I feel.