The Searching And Perplexing For Human Life's Value

John Updike, one of the great American writers of his time as well as a notable prose stylist, was considered as literary high priest of sex and suburbia. The principal themes in Updike's work are religion, sex, and America as well as death. Often he would weave them together, frequently in his favored terrain of"the American small town, Protestant middle class".With graphic descriptions of the sexual act and the search for sexual nirvana in novels, Updike shows not only his lifelong concerning for the fate of men and women in contemporary times, but also unveils his attitude to the faith, ethics, morals and culture of America today. This thesis attempts to explore the philosophical significance of Updike's creations by analyzing the sex theme in his work. Being a man writer himself, Updike focuses mainly on men's world and discusses how they search for the way of freedom and self identity, how they get rid of the fear of death through the experience of sex. Besides that he also created series of novels solely from female's view. In these novels females oppose and challenge men's authority and fight for the equality through sexual behaviors. Updike was influenced in his early life by the theology of Karl Barth's and a strong sense of religion can be found in his creations. Through the descriptions of different characters in his novels, he wants to prove that sex and religion, soul and body can get harmony. So, instead of seeking a traditional religious paradise as other romantic writers do,Updike establishes in his novels a sexual utopia, where sex becomes a means to get freedom and seemingly the last choice for the human beings. But, unlike D.H. Lawrence, he was no Priest of Love. And while his prose has seldom been equaled in its ability to convey erotic passion, he was equally adept at calling forth the self-disgust following on sexual abandon -- the hangover, the guilt, the searching emptiness. This thesis also compares the similarities and differences between the two writers and tries to find the reasons that cause them. To Lawrence, sexual love is an absolutely affirmed way to survive the invading of the modern industry, but to Updike, it's seems like a paradoxical way leading nowhere. By exploring the theme of sex in Updike's work, we can clearly see his great concern for human's fate as well as his endless efforts to control it.