Rabbit Angstrom and Holden Caulfield: A Comparison of Literary Greats

The disposition of John Updike's most fully-formed character, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, is recounted meticulously in Rabbit, Run. More so in this inaugural Rabbit novel than in the others, Rabbit's shortcomings are the direct cause of his struggle and render him incapable to cope with, and adapt to, the real world due to its perceived venality. The underlying cynicism of Rabbit, stemming from his perception of the world, coupled with his heretic and impetuous behavior parallel the demeanor of Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. Although his narration is more sardonic than Salinger's, Updike conveys his message in the Rabbit novel much as Salinger does in his novel.

The direct correlation between Holden and Rabbit is shown in the very first chapter of The Catcher in the Rye where, speaking through Holden, Salinger writes, "I don't even know what I was running for - I guess I just felt like it" (Salinger, 1951). This is the true motif of Rabbit, Run in its purest and most literal form; Rabbit constantly runs from his problems and is reliant on impulse to give him direction. Mr. Antolini, Holden's English teacher, tries to warn Holden about the consequences his thoughtless actions will produce, "This fall I think [Holden is] riding for - it's a special kind of fall, a horrible kind.... designed for men who...were looking for something their own environment couldn't supply them with" (Salinger, 1951). Reverend Eccles plays an almost identical role in Rabbit's saga by mentoring Rabbit throughout the book and constantly encouraging him to go back home and straighten out his life before it becomes too late (Updike, 1960). Both Eccles and Antolini's attempts prove futile, however, as Holden suffers the terrible fall in the form of a nervous breakdown and Rabbit's story ends with him again running away from life; thus avoiding all of the problems that invariably come along with it..