Alienation Of Everyday Life In Rabbit,Run

John Updike(1932-2009)is considered one of America's greatest novelists of his time.Based on the research of Updike and Rabbit,Run at home and abroad,this thesis tries to use Lefebvre's theory Critique of Everyday Life to explore the alienation of everyday life in Rabbit,Run which is mainly produced in daily life.The description of panorama of life in the novel can reveal the alienated status of people's living environment..In the past,many scholars have studied Rabbit,Run this novel from the perspectives of religion,sex,beliefs,such mainstream themes,as well as less concerned the daily life of people in this novel.People in Rabbit,Run suffered the distress and torture from life which should be better than that.According to the theory of Lefebvr's alienation of everyday life,the present writer attempts to make an analysis of the novel's alienation theme to have a better understanding of the easily overlooked but inseparable aspect of life in Rabbit,Run.This thesis is composed of three parts.In the part of introduction,the thesis briefly introduces Updike and Rabbity Run.The part of literature review gives a review and summary of previous studies of Updike and Rabbit,Run as well as makes a brief introduction of Lefebvre's study of critique of everyday life and alienation of everyday life.Accordingly,the present writer raises the thesis statement and explains the purpose of present study.On the grounds of the theory on Rabbit,Run,chapter three explores the alienation of everyday life in terms of four perspectives,namely,lifestyle,labor,consumption and personal relationships.The alienation of each is examined respectively from the perspectives of Rabbit,his wife Janice,his lover Ruth,the coach,the clergyman and Rabbit's and Janice's extended families.An alienation analysis of the text shows that alienation of lifestyle:on weekdays,life is unchanged,tedious,and repetitive which is the trivial and mediocrity of eating and drinking.The mechanical repetition of these makes people lose their expectation and enthusiasm for life but to find a new alternative way of entertaiment in life;as to labor,people are opposed against their own work.They have forgotten their own needs,consider pursuing money as their final goal,and regard the needs of money as their only real need.For people who work,they can no longer have a sense of satisfaction and achievement from their job,but alienate themselves into machines and work for the sake of working;as far as consumption is concerned,people do not really feel freedom in the process of alienated consumption,and they do not really feel happy.Consumption has become a kind of "compensation" for people who lose their freedom in labor.People imitate the consumption trend of kitsch instead of taking the basic survival needs as the starting point of consumption;refers to personal relationships,the relationship between people is extremely cold.The family should be the warmest safe haven for people,and family affection is supposed to be the most dependent and trusted feeling of the people.Instead,both of them become alienated under the alienation of human relationships.Such discussion of the above alienation reveals the change of everyday life of the American and gives a new understanding perspective of this novel.Conclusion points out that by means of the alienation of everyday life reflected in this novel,readers can have a new reflection on the real life.John Updike not only portrays a historical picture showing the rise and decline of the American middle class,but also depicts the whole picture of everyday life at that time.In this picture,everyday life is closely related to the alienation theme,which becomes important and embodies rich and deep meanings.