The Rabbit Angstrom Novels by John Updike

First published: 1960–1990; includes Rabbit, Run, 1960; Rabbit Redux, 1971; Rabbit Is Rich, 1981; Rabbit at Rest, 1990

Type of work: Novels

Type of plot: Domestic realism

Time of plot: 1950s–1980s

Locale: Mt. Judge and Brewer, Pennsylvania; Florida

Principal Characters

• Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, the main character, a former high-school basketball player
• Janice Springer Angstrom, his wife, whose family owns a car dealership
• Nelson Angstrom, son of Rabbit and Janice
• Rebecca Angstrom, daughter of Rabbit and Janice, drowned in infancy
• Pru Angstrom, Nelson’s wife
• Charlie Stavros, a salesman for Springer Motors, Janice’s lover
• Ruth Leonard, a prostitute, Harry’s mistress
• Skeeter, a black militant
• Jill Pendleton, a runaway flower child who is killed in a fire

The Story

Rabbit, Run. Harry Angstrom, nicknamed Rabbit, was a high-school basketball star in Brewer, Pennsylvania. Rabbit does not go to college. Following a stint in the army, he marries Janice Springer, who is pregnant with his child. One day, Rabbit stops on his way home from work to play basketball with a group of young boys, remembering his days as a basketball star. After the excitement of the game, he returns to the reality of his dirty, cluttered apartment and a wife who is drinking too much. On a sudden impulse, Rabbit, feeling trapped by family responsibilities, gets in his car and heads south in an attempt to flee from the pressures that crowd his life. He gets as far as West Virginia and then turns back to Brewer. Still unwilling to return to his family, he seeks out his old coach, Marty Tothero, and through Tothero meets Ruth Leonard, a prostitute. Rabbit leaves his wife, who is pregnant with their second child, to move in with Ruth.

After Janice has the baby, Rebecca, Rabbit returns home, and they try to resume their life together. During a quarrel, Rabbit walks out on Janice and goes to Ruth’s apartment. Janice gets drunk and while she is bathing Rebecca, she accidentally lets the baby drown. At the graveside, Rabbit shocks everyone by blaming Janice for the baby’s death, saying, “You all keep acting as if I did it. I wasn’t anywhere near. She’s the one.” After the funeral, he goes to Ruth’s apartment and discovers that she is pregnant with his child. Again Rabbit runs.

Rabbit Redux. Rabbit, now thirty-six years of age, is no longer trying to run away from his problems. He works hard as a Linotypist in a local print shop, a job that ties him to events that take place in the summer of 1969: the Apollo moon shot, the race riots in York and Reading, and Ted Kennedy’s problems following the Chappaquiddick drowning of Mary Jo Kopechne. Janice is working in her father’s Toyota agency and having an affair with Charlie Stavros, one of the salesmen. Rabbit is laid off, and Janice moves in with Charlie. She leaves Rabbit to take care of Nelson.

Rabbit meets Jill, a rich, eighteen-year-old flower child who is running away from her family. She moves in with Rabbit, later bringing in Skeeter, a black Vietnam veteran who jumps bail on a drug-dealing charge. Skeeter tries to educate Rabbit on black history and radical politics as they smoke marijuana and argue about the morality of the Vietnam War. A fire destroys the house and, in spite of Nelson’s heroic attempt to save her, Jill dies in the blaze. Janice leaves Charlie, and she and Rabbit reconcile.

Rabbit Is Rich. Rabbit, at forty-six years of age, is moderately wealthy, running the Springer family’s Toyota dealership. He and Janice move into a new home and join the country club. Golf replaces basketball, and Rabbit gains weight. When Rabbit and Janice engage in wife-swapping on a vacation in the Caribbean, Rabbit is disappointed that he does not win Cindy, the woman who most attracts him. In the exchange, he draws Thelma, the wife of Ronnie Harrison, an old teammate of Rabbit. Rabbit continues the affair with Thelma when they all return to Brewer.

Rabbit takes a personal interest in the news, viewing oil prices and the decline of the dollar as they affect his Toyota business. An avid reader of Consumer Reports, Rabbit seems obsessed with financial news and investment advice. He invests in gold Krugerrands and spreads them over Janice’s body, reveling in the sight and feel of the gold coins. Material wealth is at the center of Rabbit’s life.

Although he is comfortable with his own lifestyle, Rabbit is disappointed in his son. Uncoordinated and lacking in athletic talent, Nelson possesses none of his father’s grace. He is irresponsible, wrecking his father’s car and failing to graduate from Kent State. Nelson returns to Brewer with Pru, his pregnant girlfriend, and the two are married. With the birth of Judy, Rabbit becomes a grandfather and reaffirms his belief in life.

Rabbit at Rest. Rabbit focuses on his heart trouble, Nelson’s drug addiction, and Janice’s new career. While Nelson, Pru, and their children, Judy and Roy, are visiting Rabbit and Janice in their Florida condo, Rabbit and Judy go sailing. When their sailboat capsizes, Rabbit struggles to get Judy safely to shore. In contrast to the tragedy of the drowning death of his daughter, Rabbit is able to save the child. The physical effort, however, puts added stress on Rabbit’s heart. Rabbit and Janice return to Brewer, where Rabbit undergoes angioplasty. Janice enrolls in a real estate course, determined to have a career as a real estate agent. Nelson brings the family to the brink of financial disaster by stealing from the business to support his drug habit.

In Nelson’s absence, Rabbit and Pru have a sexual encounter. When Nelson returns from the drug rehabilitation program, Pru confesses the transgression. Rather than face Janice and Nelson, Rabbit again takes flight, this time to the condo in Florida, where Janice stubbornly refuses to join him. In an attempt to live in a more healthy way, Rabbit begins walking. On one of his trips, he joins a group of young black men in a game of basketball. Exhilarated by the challenge, he returns to the neighborhood and plays a game of one-on-one with a young man. During the game, Rabbit drops to the ground with a massive heart attack. Janice and Nelson rush to the hospital in Florida, where Janice learns that Rabbit has no chance to live. Rabbit’s last words are spoken to Nelson: He tells him that dying is not so bad.

Bibliography

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