| John Updike (1932-) is one of the most prolific and most famous American contemporary writer today. Since the publication of his first novel The Poorhouse Fair in 1958, Updike now has published more than 60 books, ranging from novels, short story collections, poetry collections, collections of prose-pieces, play and even children's books, plus innumerable uncollected reviews, formal addresses, and interviews.In the middle and late 1950's, that's during the early period of Updike's literary career, Updike has read a number of Kierkegaard's major works. Kierkegaard is a precursor of existentialism and his ideas have no doubt exerted great influence on Updike's thoughts and his literary writing. The influence, either conscious or unconscious, can be found evident in many of his works.The rabbit tetralogy, which has cost Updike 30 years to finish and has won him international fame, is considered to be his most gifted works and represent the summit of his achievements in fiction writing. The tetralogy is a record of the whole life of the protagonist and is actually a historical picture of the modern man's quest for the meaning of existence.This thesis, mainly focusing on Rabbit, Run, the first of the tetralogy, attempts to explore and illustrate the influence Kierkegaard has exercised on Updike and the manifestations of the influence in the novel by applying Kierkegaard's "Three Spheres of Existence" theory (the aesthetic, the ethical and the religious). Furthermore, the thesis also tries to point out that Updike's appeal of Kierkegaard's theories is quite clearly an intellectual one, embracing yet also transcending the pious. Updike has no intention of giving a definite answer in the novel; instead he tries to involve the readers in the protagonist Rabbit's quest and let the readers draw conclusions themselves. Although it's been nearly half a century, Rabbit's "stupid" and "not-giving-up" quest for the meaning of existence still attracts and touches readers, and it is also enlightening for us today in our understanding and pursuing of the meaning of existence.The whole thesis consists of five parts. The first part is the introduction part, including a brief introduction to the author, a few words simple but necessary about Rabbit, Run, and the purpose of the study of this thesis. The second part is a discussion of Kierkegaard's "Three Spheres of Existence" theory. The third part is a detailed analysis about the life of Rabbit, the protagonist of Rabbit, Run, using the theory discussed in the previous part. When Rabbit is ethically oriented, he feels he is trapped in a tightening net, interweaved by his boring work and matrimony. He then runs, in quest of novelty. Yet, the aesthetically oriented Rabbit finds him back to the original place and the love he has been looking for also turns out nothing. What's more he just cannot shake off his responsibility as a social man completely. Nevertheless, at his daughter's funeral, he manages to make the "leap of faith", out of despair. He steps into the religious sphere and feels exculpated. But he gets misunderstood. Everyone including his wife Janice, the congregation at the funeral, and Ruth all accuses him of killing the baby. His inner certainty obviously cannot solve all his problems. Anyway, Rabbit has no intention of giving up. He runs. The fourth part aims at a further understanding of Rabbit's quest on the basis of the analysis of the previous part. Updike actually breaks the hierarchy of Kierkegaard's three spheres. According to Kierkegaard, the aesthetic sphere is the first stage and gives way to the ethical, which gives way to the religious. The quest of Rabbit is not a progressive one but a zigzag movement. Besides, the quest is in a sense a circular one which involves repetition, indicating there is no way out. But Rabbit never gives up and still sticks to his faith. It is his not-giving-up and faith that still attracts the readers' attention today. The last part is the conclusion part of the whole thesis.
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