Rabbit Run Study Guide

Rabbit Run

Rabbit Run by John Updike

Rabbit, Run is the story of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, a former high school basketball star living in Brewer, Pennsylvania with his pregnant wife and two-year-old son. Harry experiences a crisis of self that leads him to abandon his family and make many abortive attempts to "find" himself. Harry repeatedly pressures women for sex, attempting to exert control over his life even as it loses all form and purpose. At the novel's end his newborn child dies in an accident and Harry's fate is left uncertain.

Rabbit Run Characters

Table of Contents
  • Harry Angstrom - a.k.a. Rabbit, a 26-year-old man. Married to Janice Angstrom. He was a basketball star in high school and begins the novel as a kitchen gadget salesman.
  • Miriam Angstrom - a.k.a. Mim, Rabbit's 19-year-old sister.
  • Mr. Angstrom - Rabbit's father.
  • Mrs. Angstrom - Rabbit's mother.
  • Janice Angstrom - Rabbit's wife.
  • Nelson Angstrom - Harry and Janice's 2-year-old son.
  • Rebecca June Angstrom - Harry and Janice's infant daughter.
  • Mr. Springer - Janice's father. A used car dealer.
  • Mrs. Springer - Janice's mother. She is harshly critical of Harry when he leaves Janice.
  • Jack Eccles - a young Episcopal priest. He tries to mend Harry and Janice's broken marriage.
  • Lucy Eccles - Jack Eccles's wife. She blames the lack of love in her marriage with Jack on his job taking up too much of his time.
  • Fritz Kruppenbach - the Angstroms' Lutheran minister. He tells Jack Eccles that Harry and Janice are best left to themselves.
  • Ruth Leonard - Rabbit's mistress with whom he lives for three months. She is a former prostitute and lives alone in an apartment for two people. She is weight-conscious.
  • Margaret Kosko - a friend of Ruth's. Probably also a prostitute. She is contemptuous of Tothero.
  • Mrs. Smith - a widow whose garden Rabbit looks after while away from his wife. She is 73 years old.
  • Marty Tothero - Rabbit's former basketball coach. He was popular in high school but got dismissed from his job due to a 'scandal'. He cheats on his wife but gives marital advice to Harry. After suffering two strokes, he becomes disabled.
  • Ronnie Harrison - One of Rabbit's former basketball team-mates. He has slept with Margaret Kosko and Ruth Leonard.

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