Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Rabbit Redux was the second novel of the Harry ‘Rabbit’ Armstrong series that was written by John Updike and was published in 1971. The first novel of the series was Rabbit, Run which was published in 1960. The word redux means ‘restored’ or ‘brought back.’ John Updike brings his character Rabbit back to the fore through this novel and continues the story ten years after its prequel, Rabbit Run. Harry Armstrong is 36 years old now and his son Nelson is a 13-year-old teen.
The main theme of Rabbit Redux is the contradictory notions of freedom and responsibility. Harry Armstrong deserts his wife twice in the first novel Rabbit, Run but ultimately, he returns to his wife Janice, considering it his responsibility towards her and his son Nelson. However, Janice is not ready to stay with Harry anymore in Rabbit Redux as she explores freedom and engages in an extramarital affair with an eccentric Greek man named Charlie Stavros. Harry comes to know about the affair and he feels emotionally bankrupt. After twelve years of her marriage, Janice decides to leave her husband and son to live with Charlie, a car dealer whom she met at her father's car dealership. Harry used to be an enthusiastic man nicknamed Rabbit, but now he is a passive man trying to save his family. It is the time when America blasted off Apollo 11 to the moon. While America is exploring new worlds in space, Rabbit’s life appears to be an empty space.
Characters of Rabbit Redux:
Harry Rabbit Armstrong is a 36 years old passive man working as a Linotype operator in the local printing plant. He used to be a salesman and a car dealer but his hometown Brewer, Pennsylvania is suffering economic turmoil. He used to be an enthusiastic man full of hopes but now he fears he is quickly approaching middle age and irrelevance. Janice is Harry’s wife for the last twelve years. She is a lover of Harry since childhood but she is bored of her mundane life and when she meets a Greek car dealer Charlie Stravos, who is aged, yet excited, she develops an extramarital affair with her. Nelson is the 13 years old son of Harry and Janice who is heartbroken after her mother leaves the family to live with her lover. Jill is a runaway teenage Hippi girl belonging to a rich family from Connecticut. She is addicted to drugs and is used to prostitute herself for drugs. When Harry offers her a stay with him and his son Nelson, she readily accepts. Skeeter is a black Vietnamese veteran who is a drug dealer and is on the run from law enforcement. He has some radical views and is often called as Black Jesus by his followers.
Summary of Rabbit Redux:
The novel is set in the late 1960s during the period when America faced the wave of Summer of Love during which as many as 100,000 young people gathered to promote their Hippi lifestyle, hallucinogenic drugs, anti-war, and free-love ideals throughout the West Coast of America. It is the same period when America blasted off Apollo 11 to the moon. These are the years when America was going through the Vietnamese war. Harry is a nationalist who favors the war. He learns about the Summer of Love, the Vietnamese War, the Apollo mission, and other events through the television but personally, he is unenthusiastic and oblivious to the cultural changes.
The novel begins as Harry contemplates the steadily declining economic condition of his hometown Brewer, Pennsylvania, and compares it with his own life. At 36, he is devoid of any hopes and progress as he is stuck with a dead-end job as a Linotype operator at his father's company, an occupation that threatens to be rendered irrelevant with the advancement of technology. His wife Janice feels bored with her mundane life and starts visiting the car dealer shop of her father. She is unhappy with her marriage as she feels unappreciated while Harry still wonders about Catherine Ruth who gave birth to his child.
At the car dealer shop, Janice meets Charlie Stravos, who is an aged, eccentric Greek man. Charlie impresses Janice who is bored of her mundane life and entices her towards an alternative sex life. Janice develops an extramarital affair with Charlie. Rabbit learns about her affair at a bar where the television repeatedly shows Apollo 11 blasting off to the moon. While America is exploring new worlds, Harry feels an emptiness in his life. At home, Harry’s mother is too old now and is about to die while his son is still a teenager. Harry used to be a very athletic and a star basketball player in his college because of which he was nicknamed Rabbit. However, Nelson is unathletic and seeks freedom from his father’s expectations.
Rabbit’s co-worker Buchanan understands his condition and to help him out, he introduces Harry to Jill, a young teenage girl belonging to a wealthy family from Connecticut. Jill is impressed by the freedom movement of Summer of Love. She is a drug-addicted hippie who believes that she is free from the rules of any conventional society. Harry learns that Jill has been selling herself behind the bar for drugs. He Jill a place to stay with him and his son, Nelson. Nelson is a 13 years old teenage boy who is suffering an emotional breakdown because his mother left the family for another man. When he meets Jill, he is smitten by her and experiences his first love. Meanwhile, Harry develops a sexual relationship with Jill as he pays for her drugs.
Now that Janice has left her home, Harry decides to convert his house into a commune where people from different backgrounds may meet together. Soon a black Vietnamese war veteran reaches Harry's home and starts living there. He is a drug dealer on the run from law enforcement. He served his years in Vietnam and his experience has made him oppose the war. He too is a proponent of the Summer of Love and vociferously opposes America’s military operations in Vietnam. Harry, being a nationalist opposes Skeeter while favoring America. They also have arguments over the racial issues engulfing the nation. However, the two manage to control their emotions and decide to stay together. Skeeter is a nihilist with some radical views. He has a list of followers who sometimes call him Black Jesus.
Both Skeeter and Harry develop sexual relationships with Jill and all of them engage in substance abuse. Meanwhile, Nelson continues to praise Jill and feels love for her.
Harry's neighbors are too disturbed by the illicit and immoral activities of Skeeter, Jill, and Harry and they try to convince Harry to drop his idea of commune and make Skeeter and Jill go away. However, Harry is also drug-addicted and enjoys the Hippie life with Jill and Skeeter. One of the neighbors sets fire to Rabbit's house while Jill is in a heroin-induced stupor, and Jill burns to death. No one else is harmed during the fire. When Rabbit speaks to a policeman at the fire scene, he's told that whoever was in the house is "cooked," and Nelson vomits.
Harry is too disturbed and sad about Jill’s demise but Skeeter convinces him to get past it. However, Harry is worried about Nelson and wonders how the death of Jill will affect Nelson.
Law enforcement finally catches Skeeter and he too leaves Harry. Meanwhile, Janice's lover, Charlie, suffers a heart attack. Janice manages to save him, but the incident causes the pair to reconsider what they want. Janice returns to Rabbit and Nelson, and the three try to repair their broken family, though Rabbit sometimes imagines that Jill comes to him in his sleep.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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