The Contemporary American "new Epic" Construction Of John Updike's "Rabbit Tetralogy"

As one of the important representative works of John Updike,the rabbit Tetralogy shows us the life picture of the middle class in the United States from the late 1950 s to the early 1990 s.It is recognized as an epic novel of "American,Christian,small town and middle class" by the academic community.It is worth noting that in the "rabbit Tetralogy",Updike has got rid of the traditional epic novel creation mode,and constructed a new epic novel of America with private experience as the core,anti hero as the narrative hero and lyric poetry as the style.John Updike takes "sex" as the starting point to enter the American society and see through the living conditions of the middle class.Therefore,sex in the novel is not only an important theme,but also a way to show the life and cultural contradictions of the American middle class.In addition,Harry,the hero of the novel,is portrayed as an anti hero,but his life shows us an adult who constantly conveys the traditional values of the American middle class.The rabbit Tetralogy reflects John Updike's worry and thinking about the cultural change and soul dilemma of American middle class in the second half of the 20 th century by showing the contradictions and conflicts between the characters' self and society.