John Updike Biography Essay

Biography

John Updike was born on March 18th, 1932 to Wesley and Linda Updike. Weasley was a junior high school math teacher, while Linda was an author who was not published until she was middle aged. The three of them lived in Shillington, Pennsylvania, and they stayed there for the first thirteen years of Updike’s life. But, he did not stay in Shillington for long, for shortly thereafter they moved to Plowville, Pennsylvania to live on their grandfather’s farm. Updike hated Plowville, and felt very isolated there. Although Updike’s mother seemed to be almost enchanted by the farm, Updike did not share the same feeling. During his time in Plowville, he found his love for reading and writing, as he would read and write to distract himself
His humble beginning was in Shillington, PA, before he later moved to Plowville, PA, He disliked Plowville, but his mother loved the area so she forced him and his father to live there. To cope, John began to write and draw comics, which later developed into his love for writing. He drew 258 submissions for his high school newspaper, and later attended Harvard University on a scholarship and wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. John and his Mother’s relationship is very interesting, as she is described as overbearing and was the person who forced John to move away from Shillington. But, John’s mother also inspired him to become an author, as she was an author as well. This caused John to have mixed feelings about his mother. John also did not believe in monogamy, as he had several affairs while he was married. But not only did he have affairs behind his wife’s back, but his wife knew about some of these affairs. The couple was even a part of a friend group where every couple had an affair with members of another couple. These facts all together show the unique life John Updike had. John Updike drew inspiration from his life to write many of his stories, especially from his divorce and affairs, and his relationship with his mother. (Manand