The Changing Middle Class Morality And Owen’s Education

John Updike is one of the most significant and productive American writers in the late twentieth century.Distinguished at depicting the family lives of middle class,he reveals the spiritual and moral conditions of modern Americans and the social conditions in America in his works.Among all his works,the best-known is his Rabbit tetralogy.Published in 2004,his novel Villages is a significant work in his late part of life,showing deep concern to women and the changing morality.Taking the main character Owen’s life experiences as a clue,the novel depicts Owen’s emotional experiences and even sexual adventures with several women in decades,reflecting the changing morality of American middle class,especially the effects of the feminist movements in the 1960 s and 1970 s on morality.The three villages in the novel,Willow,Middle Falls and Haskells Crossing,represent three phases of Owen’s life and reveal Owen’s educational conditions in different periods and the changing morality of middle class.Willow,where people follow traditional rules and well behave,is not only Owen’s hometown that he spends his adolescence,but also the place where he receives sexual enlightenment.The sense of morality and responsibility is highlighted.Middle Falls,where Owen lives in his middle age,also witnesses the degradation of morality.America experienced a series of political movements between 1960 s and1970s.The counter-culture is the manifestation of these movements’ influences on ideology.People pursue extramarital affairs and they focus on sensual enjoyment,sexual freedom and sexual liberation,bringing harm to individuals and families and resulting in the distortion of morality.Owen spends his old age in Haskells Crossing.He is often caught in reminiscence and confession towards the past.He pays much for his adultery.He is self-educated and realizes that,while enjoying the joy of the freedom of the body,he has truly brought much harm to others.In this sense,his morality is restored to a new level of understanding about life.The three villages witness Owen’s growth and the changing morality of middle class.This thesis is intended to analyze how the morality changes based on the education Owen receives from a series of women by combining relative feminist theories,paying special attention to the moral features of the three significant stages of Owen’s life.