John Updikes Works Essay -- essays research papers fc

Existence is like a creature that hides and then reveals itself. Existence is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as the "state or fact of being." This existence strives to reach truth which is located beyond space and time, yet truth must be grasped by existence nevertheless. This is accomplished through ritual, which can bring about the capturing of the inconceivable.Edward P. Vargo stated that John Updike uses ritual "to fulfill the great desire of capturing the past, to make the present meaningful through connection with the past, to overcome death, and to grasp immortality" (Contemporary Vol. 7 487). He combines the aspects and meaning of seemingly unimportant ritual along with mankind’s desire for a relationship with God to form truth and value for the past, present, and future. Updike uses his talents as a writer to bring together the conceivable and the inconceivable.John Updike implements his philosophies and ideals in a way that brings together existence with meaning. "Updike is in the best sense of the word an intellectual novelist, a novelist of paradox, tension and complexity who as a college wit in the fifties learned that we are all symbols and inhabit symbols" (World 3752). Updike uses his beliefs to form stronger meanings in his writings.John Updike has a strong faith in human intelligence. He believes that people can use it to explore the universe. He finds the world "to be a place of intricate and marvelous patterns of meaning" (Contemporary Vol. 5 449). With this faith he is able to bring things into focus that would not ordinarily be seen. "I describe things not because their muteness mocks our subjectivity but because they seem to be masks for God. . ." (Contemporary Vol. 7 486). Updike is able to see past the facade of normal, ordinary life.John Updike uses his insights in his writing to emphasize human feelings. He suggests in his writings that "the human conscience constantly suffers guilt for transgressing the laws of two different moralities" (World 3754). John Updike recognizes this feeling of guilt and is more able to clearly show the connections of the past to the present. His writings are also able to capture a "sense of human incompleteness, of the sense of discrepancy between actual and the ideal" (Magill’s 1988). He shows how humans strive to ... ... section of existence and truth, and to overcome death. Ritual gives substance to the present. It has connections to the everyday world, to the past, and to the future. Thus, ritual is able to symbolize life itself as it discovers new patterns for growth and fulfillment. Through myth, the past becomes immortal and meaningful. Ritual, along with worship of God, is able to satisfy the great desire for truth, existence, and meaning. Works CitedUpdike, John. Broadening Views, 1968-1988. Vol. 6. Ed. C.E. Frazer Clark Jr. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1989. Updike, John. The Centaur. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1963.Updike, John. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 5. Ed. Carolyn Riley and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1976. Updike, John. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 7. Ed. Phyllis Carmel Mendelson and Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1977.Updike, John. Magill’s Survey of American Literature. Vol. 6. Ed. Frank N. Magill. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1991.Updike, John. World Literature Criticism: 1500 to the Present. Vol. 6. Ed. James P. Draper. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1992.