Searching For The Self

As the representative personage of American realistic literature, John Updike and his writings have caused much dispute for a long time in the world. The most well-known works Rabbit tetralogy have caused a lot of public censure because what he aims to express is quite close to the real life of middle-class in America and because they all boldly reveal the mental crisis of modern men. In Rabbit, Run, the protagonist Harry Rabbit Angstrom, is no body in American middle-class society. But "run" becomes his logo. Why he always runs becomes the hot topic discussed by critics. Some cover themes. Others explore it from the new perspectives of feminism, post-colonialism and new-historicism and so on. Many researchers have discussed the intimate relationships between Updike and Sorenkierkegard, forefather of existentialism and the influence Sorenkierkegard has on Updike. However, most critics focus on the external and cultural reasons and ignore the internal and individual reasons.In Rabbit, Run, the protagonist Rabbit is confronted with the loss of the self or split of the self-hood and suffer from the alienated relationships with others and society. Although he has stubbornly revolted against the situation where he is, it turns out futile and useless. Rabbit fashions his life on running to keep his sense of self-worth alive. Any choices he makes cannot at the same time satisfy both sides of the opposites-personal freedom and social responsibility, flesh and spirit, self and other, life and mortality. It seems that there is no outlet for him to reconcile within these tensions and conflictive relationships."Run" is an alienated act and an expression of the alienation of self, which is not only the product of the time (epitome of the times), but also the product of the individual. Most studies of "run”tend to overemphasize external determinants and ignore the psychological dynamics of the individual. However, in this novel, the purpose of Updike is to reveal the existential dilemma and spiritual crisis of modern people.This thesis in accordance with the presupposition of Lacan’s theory of Three Orders, attempts to analyze Rabbit’s psychological crisis in different stages. This thesis includes three chapters apart from the introduction and conclusion. In the introduction, the author mainly introduces the research background, literature review, research questions and the significance of applying Lacanian psychoanalysis to the study. In chapter one, the author adopts the imaginary order which is one of Three Orders theory to analyze the process of Rabbit’s self perception and Rabbit’s efforts to achieve his ideal self. In chapter two, the symbolic order shows that Rabbit has to submit to the society and approach to the social self. In chapter three, the author applies the real order theory to reveal the reason why Rabbit cannot find his real self. Chapter four summarizes the common theme throughout the three stages, which is alienation. Based on the above analysis, the author points out that Rabbit’s struggle, in Lacanian sense, is a process of searching for self; however, an alienated one. The alienation of the self is not only the essential stage of growth, but also a result of the pernicious influence of the American society in the1950s.