Atlantic Ocean Rabbit Run

Despite a difference of seventy years and the distance of the Atlantic Ocean, Rabbit, Run by John Updike and The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde present striking similarities in their characters and themes. While I initially could not draw the connections between the two novels, I now recognize the many ways in which the authors criticize and analyzed their own environments through their works. I believe that the lessons on the dangers of societal influence and the nature of ethics that Rabbit, Run and The Picture of Dorian Gray explored were not only paramount subjects in their own times, but in the modern day as well. Their writing introduces and reminds readers of imperative issues that incite revolutions of critical thinking.
The
Despite a reputation for egocentrism and ruining lives, Dorian’s community enables his corrupt behavior because of his appearance and wealth. His demise and eventual death was caused by his society’s permittance of his actions. Rabbit is too gravely affected by his society. His community harshly critiques him for leaving his family in pursuit of happiness. Because Rabbit had gone through the most successful period of life (his high school basketball career) directed by the authority of his mentor and coach Marty Tothero, he has difficulties navigating through life without leadership. Even though he often times chose to disobey his society’s expectations, Rabbit continued to seek guidance from others throughout the novel. The pressure Rabbit faces eventually leads to his return home. However, because he has not adjusted to his old life, Rabbit leaves again: this action resulted in the accidental drowning of his newborn daughter. Rather than attempting to understand Rabbit’s life crisis, his community pressures him to conform to their American standards (regardless of whether or not he is
During childhood, Wilde was known for his passion for Roman and Greek studies, as well as his literary dexterity. Upon graduating in 1871, Wilde was awarded the Royal School Scholarship to attend Trinity College in Dublin. By the end of his first year he placed first in the school's classics examination and received the college's Foundation Scholarship, the highest honor awarded to undergraduates. After receiving yet another scholarship, Wilde went on to study at Oxford University, where he began his first attempts at creative writing. In 1888, Wilde would find employment as a magazine editor while simultaneously publishing his most renowned works. In 1891, he published his first and only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Wilde was harshly criticized for the novel’s perceived lack of morality. However, Wilde vehemently defended his work, stating "vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art." At the same time Wilde was basking in his success, he was also involved in an affair with a young man named Lord Alfred Douglas. Wilde was tried and convicted for “gross indecency”, and was sentenced to two years in prison. After his release from prison, Wilde was left physically and emotionally depleted, and moved to France in exile. It would be in Paris, France that meningitis would end Wilde’s life at the age of 46 (Biography