Rabbit, Run

John Updike’s novel Rabbit, Run (1960) is the first installment in his acclaimed Rabbit tetralogy, which chronicles the life of its protagonist, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom. The series follows Rabbit from his restless youth into his middle age through the subsequent novels Rabbit Redux (1971), Rabbit Is Rich (1981), and Rabbit at Rest (1990), the latter two both winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Set in 1959, the literary fiction novel introduces Rabbit as a 26-year-old former high school basketball star who feels suffocated in his marriage and dead-end job. He impulsively abandons his pregnant wife and young son, embarking on an aimless journey to escape his obligations and recapture a feeling of past glory. The novel explores themes of The Pursuit of Freedom and the Rejection of Responsibility, The Trap of Nostalgia, and The Inadequacy of Modern Religion.

Rabbit, Run is a seminal work of postwar American literature that captures the underlying anxiety and spiritual emptiness of the late 1950s. The novel is set against a cultural backdrop of rigid social conformity and the rise of suburbia, a world Rabbit perceives as a trap. His impulsive flight reflects the restlessness of the era, offering a private, unarticulated rebellion that parallels the more overt countercultural critiques of the Beat Generation. Upon its publication, the novel was controversial for its frank depiction of sexuality and its morally ambiguous protagonist. A film adaptation of the novel starring James Caan was released in 1970.

This guide is based on the 1996 Ballantine Books Trade Paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide feature depictions of child death, substance use, addiction, sexual content, sexual violence, gender discrimination, racism, illness, graphic violence, cursing, and emotional abuse.

Plot Summary

One March afternoon, Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, a 26-year-old former high school basketball star who now works as a kitchen gadget demonstrator, impulsively joins a group of boys playing basketball in an alley. The game briefly revives his sense of past glory and makes him feel liberated. When he returns home to his apartment in the Brewer suburb of Mt. Judge, he criticizes his pregnant wife, Janice, over her alcohol intake and what he perceives as her disdain for her pregnancy. When he leaves to pick up their son, Nelson, at his mother’s house, Janice asks him to buy cigarettes, which makes him feel trapped.

Rabbit’s feelings are exacerbated when he watches his parents and his sister, Miriam, feeding Nelson from outside the house. Choosing to flee, he retrieves the family car from his in-laws’, the Springers’, house and leaves town. Without a clear destination in mind, he drives aimlessly and ultimately elects to return to Mt. Judge.

Rabbit visits the Sunshine Athletic Association, hoping to find his disgraced former basketball coach, Marty Tothero. Tothero offers Rabbit his room in the club’s attic on the condition that they later have a serious talk about Rabbit’s marriage. Rabbit sleeps in Tothero’s cot, remembering a visit to a sex worker during his time in the Army.

Tothero wakes Rabbit in the evening for a double date in Brewer. They meet Margaret, Tothero’s date, and Ruth Leonard, who is Rabbit’s date. Rabbit and Ruth feel an immediate connection as she recognizes him as a basketball star from a rival high school. At a Chinese restaurant, Rabbit reminisces about his basketball glory while Tothero pontificates about coaching. An argument erupts between Tothero and Margaret, and she slaps him before they leave together. Rabbit confesses to Ruth that he is married and has just left his wife. He offers her $15 to let him stay the night at her apartment, which she accepts.

Rabbit forcefully kisses Ruth when they get to her apartment, and they argue when he insists she not use contraception. They have sex. Rabbit later has a disturbing dream about his family and a melting Janice. He and Ruth have sex again the following morning and discuss religion afterwards. Rabbit professes belief, while Ruth is an atheist. He decides to retrieve his clothes from his apartment and leave the car for Janice. When he reaches his apartment, he is unsettled by the lingering presence of his former life.

As Rabbit is leaving his apartment building, he is intercepted by Jack Eccles, the Springers’ Episcopal minister. Eccles gives Rabbit a ride into Brewer, explaining that he wants to mediate Rabbit and Janice’s marital reconciliation. Rabbit explains his feeling of being trapped in a “second-rate” life after his basketball success. Eccles invites Rabbit to play golf, hoping to maintain contact. Rabbit returns to Ruth’s apartment, and that afternoon they climb Mt. Judge. At the pinnacle, Rabbit is struck with existential fear. He angers Ruth by asking if she was once a sex worker.

Rabbit visits the rectory to keep his golf appointment with Eccles. He meets Eccles’s cynical wife, Lucy, perceives her as being flirtatious, and impulsively pats her backside. On the way to the course, Eccles offers Rabbit a gardening job for a parishioner, Mrs. Smith, and reveals that he knows about Ruth. During their game, they debate the feeling Rabbit thought he could pursue by running away. 

Spring passes. Rabbit takes the gardening job, lives with Ruth, and plays golf weekly with Eccles, finding peace in the physical labor. The elderly Mrs. Smith grows fond of him. On Memorial Day, Rabbit and Ruth go swimming, and she confronts him about his carefree attitude. During this time, Ruth begins to suspect she is pregnant but hides it from Rabbit. Meanwhile, Eccles visits the Springers and the Angstroms, finding both families distressed. Seeking guidance, he visits the local Lutheran minister, Fritz Kruppenbach, who harshly rebukes him for meddling in his parishioners’ affairs.

Rabbit and Ruth’s relationship deteriorates. He takes her to a club where they meet Margaret and Ronnie Harrison, Rabbit’s old teammate. Harrison and Rabbit trade insults. Rabbit’s sister, Mim, appears with a date, and Rabbit acts aggressively toward them. On the walk home, Rabbit angrily interrogates Ruth about her sexual past. To punish her further, he demands she perform oral sex. 

Eccles informs Rabbit that Janice has gone into labor. Rabbit leaves Ruth and grows anxious that his sin will cause Janice or the baby to die. To his relief, the baby is born healthy, and Rabbit has a conciliatory reunion with Janice while she is in an ether-induced state. They name their newborn daughter Rebecca June. Rabbit spends the night at the rectory, where he once again registers Lucy’s flirtatious behavior. His successive visits to the hospital are less joyful as he learns that Tothero is recovering from two strokes and renews the tensions of his relationship with Janice. Rabbit and Nelson move back into the apartment while Janice remains in recovery.

When Janice and the baby come home, Rabbit feels a renewed sense of purpose. He attends Eccles’s church on Sunday and is distracted by Lucy Eccles. After the service, she invites him home for coffee, but he rebuffs her, reminding her about his marriage. She reacts angrily, and he returns home filled with lust for Janice. That afternoon, the baby cries inconsolably, making Rabbit and Janice tense. Rabbit tries to initiate sex with Janice, but she rejects him as she is still recovering from her hospitalization. He persists in trying to satisfy himself, and when Janice mocks this as the result of his affair, Rabbit becomes enraged and leaves the apartment.

A despairing Janice begins drinking heavily through the night. Her parents call, suspicious of Rabbit’s absence, and her mother threatens to come over. Worried over her mother’s impending arrival, Janice decides to give the crying baby a bath. Rebecca June dies of accidental drowning. Eccles shares the news with Rabbit, who has been wandering around Brewer after a fruitless search for Ruth. When Rabbit visits the Springers, his father-in-law offers reconciliation, accepting Rabbit back into the family.

Rabbit initially accepts Rebecca June’s death as his fault, but when Tothero visits Rabbit to warn him of the misery his continued disobedience will cause, Rabbit is disturbed. Rabbit believes he experiences a moment of spiritual transcendence at Rebecca June’s funeral. In an outburst that shocks the other mourners, he declares that he is not responsible for Rebecca June’s death and that the blame belongs with Janice. He then retreats into the woods on Mt. Judge. Rabbit initially gets lost, but eventually finds his way to the top of the mountain. He calls the rectory, but Lucy answers and hangs up on him. He walks down to Ruth’s apartment and finds her there. He correctly guesses she is pregnant. However, she is furious with him. Seeing Rabbit as a source of ruin, she calls him “Mr. Death.” When Rabbit begs her to have the baby, Ruth gives him an ultimatum: divorce Janice and marry her, or she and the baby are “dead” to him. An overwhelmed Rabbit offers to pick up food from the delicatessen to placate her. Feeling trapped by his responsibilities but also sensing an inner freedom in his indecision, he begins to run.