Essay - In the Third Novel in John Updike's Rabbit Series, Rabbit...

In the third novel in John Updike's Rabbit series, Rabbit is Rich, Updike's protagonist Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom has achieved financial security as the owner of a Toyota dealership. Indeed, Harry appears to be enjoying the good life, and he believes himself ***** happy ***** fulfilled. However, as the novel progresses, it becomes obvious that the life that ***** believes he ***** built for himself is truly an illusion. His family situation, as well as his unresolved feelings for a former lover, provide complications that force Harry ***** realize he has not come as far as he once thought. Thus, while ***** may have finally attained material possessions, enjoying a country club membership and trips to the Caribbean, he lacks a certain inner peace.

***** many ways, his ***** is hollow, as he is dissatisfied with ***** trappings of his middle class, suburban existence. In this sense, ***** cannot be considered ***** rich.

On the surface, Harry appears to enjoy quite a prosperous, carefree life. He has achieved a certain degree of success in his career, as he owns a profitable Toyota *****. Indeed, ***** position fills him with a sense of pride, and ***** feels ***** ***** be "...***** star and spearpoint of all these two dozen employees and hundred thousand square feet of working space..." (Updike 8). Furthermore, his business allows him to attain all the trappings ***** suburban bliss, namely a comfortable home, a we*****lthy wife, and ***** at the local ***** club. Within ***** marriage, Harry is able to enjoy sexual freedom, as he and h***** wife Janice participate in partner-swapping while on a trip to the Carib*****an with friends. Clearly, Harry's ***** is full of superficial pleasures.

*****, Rabbit's life is not ***** ***** it appears on ***** surface, as Updike h*****tens to demonstrate. The novel's very timeline helps emphasize this fact, as the events take place in 1979 when the United States is in the midst of a gas crisis. Certainly, Updike wishes his readers to see ***** parallel between the state ***** the nation ***** Harry's own *****, as both are experiencing shortages of fuel. Harry ***** be living the 'good life,' but it no longer seems to satisfy him. Indeed, even while playing golf at the club, he feels an emptiness at the heart of things. Harry explains that he "...is tired... of summer, of golf, of ***** sun. When he was younger and just taking up the game... there were shots that seemed like a miracle..." but now it has become "...***** ***** work, pleasant ***** but work, a matter ***** approximations in the realm of the imperfect..." (Updike 197-9*****). However, this is only a symp*****m of deeper unrest within ***** soul, as Updike clearly asserts.

Indeed, the reappearance of Harry's son Nelson seems to send him into a tailspin. Nelson returns home with a pregnant girlfriend, Pru, who he plans to marry. When Harry learns ***** ***** news, "Sorrow for the child [Nelson] bleeds *****ward to ***** ceiling ***** its blotches