An Analysis Of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom Series From The Perspective Of Life Instinct And Death Instinct

John Updike is one of the most influential writers and literary critics in contemporaryAmerican Literature. His Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom series include Rabbit, Run (1960),Rabbit Redux(1971), Rabbit is Rich (1981), and Rabbit at Rest (1990), which won him highreputation and all kinds of awards. They chronicle the adult life of Harry Angstrom, a fadedhigh school basketball star whose nickname is “Rabbit”, from his young adulthood in the1950s to his death in the1980s. Since John Updike was born in the1930s, he has witnessedand suffered from the European economic recession and World WarⅡ, which in returnexerted a huge influence on him. These experiences not only let him know the difficulty andvalue of people’s life, but also let him feel the cruelty and fear brought by death. His Harry“Rabbit” Angstrom series reflect much of John Updike’s confusion and ambivalencetowards life and death. In each novel of the series, there are scenes and news of differentpeople who are either born or die. Problems concerning life and death develop as the plotdevelops. Through his depiction of the life and death in the series, John Updike intends tofind the meaning of life.John Updike’s Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom series have been analyzed from manyperspectives, but there are not many researches done from the perspective of Freud’s lifeinstinct and death instinct. Therefore, the author of the thesis intends to analyze the Harry“Rabbit” Angstrom series from the above perspective, and explore the figures’ life instinctand death instinct and those instincts’ influences on them.According to Freud, people are driven by two conflicting central instincts, the lifeinstinct and the death instinct. The life instinct seeks both to preserve life and to create life.The death instinct appears in opposition and balance to the life instinct. It pushes a persontowards extinction and an inanimate state. Freud pointed out that the life instinct and thedeath instinct can explain all human behaviors.This thesis is composed of three chapters apart from the introduction and the conclusion,which are as follows.The introduction first introduces John Updike’s literary achievement and literarysignificance. It then makes a brief introduction to his Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom series andthe previous studies on them. In the end, it explains the reason for applying Freud’s life instinct and death instinct as the theoretical approach to this thesis and states the realisticsignificance of the thesis.In Chapter One, the author mainly analyzes Rabbit Angstrom and Janice’s life instinct.Rabbit Angstrom feels the threat of death, so his inner life instinct prompts him to fightagainst his coming death through running. At the mean time, he cannot help eating junk food,though he is already overweight and has a heart problem. Because when he is eating, he hassuch a sense that he is still alive. Rabbit Angstrom has sex with his daughter-in-law at an oldage. This kind of sex helps fill the void in his soul and make him feel as if he is reborn. Afterbeing abandoned by her husband and lover, Janice’s inner life instinct awakes, so she decidesnot to rely on men any more. She changes her past sloppy image and becomes an energeticwoman. When Rabbit Angstrom has to stay in hospital due to his heart problem, Janice evenattends classes and becomes a business woman. She takes the entire family’s responsibilityon her shoulder and gains rebirth. Rabbit Angstrom has sex with many women under hissexual instinct’s guide, but he only cares about his own feelings and needs, devoting notmuch love to the women.Chapter Two analyzes Rabbit Angstrom’s death instinct. There are many manifestationsof Rabbit Angstrom’s inner death instinct. He constantly thinks about the dead and associatesmany stuff with death. Rabbit Angstrom’s spirit has already been dead long before hisphysical death. Rabbit Angstrom gradually loses his rebellious spirit and is satisfied with hiscurrent situation. He also loses his freedom and sense of belonging. Though he finally hasenough money to buy him his own house, Rabbit Angstrom in fact feels more lonely anddesperate than before. His sexual instinct declines and pushes him to play a passive role inhis relationship with women. After going through his baby daughter, his mother and otherpeople’s deaths, Rabbit Angstrom finally chooses his own death.Chapter Three analyzes human beings’ life and death. Updike has been deeply troubledby the skin disease–psoriasis and stuttering problems when he was a child, which inevitablycast a shadow over his childhood. Therefore his mother encouraged him to write in order toexpress his feelings. In this way, Updike’s life instinct beat death instinct, and he became afamous writer. According to Freud, life instinct is associated with positive emotions of love,and death instinct is associated with negative emotions of hate. In the protagonist’s family, there also exist complicated love and hate. By shaping the love and hate between thesefigures, John Updike deeply excavates the human secret, and gives the readers a truereflection of the human spirit. Human Beings have complicated attitudes towards life anddeath. Most people care their own lives due to their life instincts, but many of them showindifferent and selfish attitudes toward others’ lives due to their death instincts. People onlycare about their own benefits and the old affection between people gradually fades.From the above analysis of John Updike and his Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom seriesapplying Freud’s life instinct and death instinct, this thesis comes to a conclusion. JohnUpdike’s depiction of the life and death help people find the real meaning of them. Thecentral character could be everyone. Rabbit Angstrom’s experiences of maintaining his lifeand struggling against death can also give the readers some lessons and let them make a deepreflection on themselves. Therefore, people can properly adjust their spirits and find thevalue of their lives.