| The major thesis of this dissertation suggests that John Updike uses memories and values experienced in Shillington, Reading, and Berks County, Pennsylvania, his hometown areas, in all his novels. Six novels have settings inspired by his Berks County experiences, and those reflect a stronger local influence than the seven set elsewhere. Because I am a Berks County native and long-term resident and have a background similar to Updike's, I use, in my analyses, interviews with Updike's family and friends, correspondence from the author, and my own insights into cultural norms in the area, as well as critical commentary on Updike's work.; A biographical sketch of Updike's youth is presented, utilizing excerpts from his semi-autobiographical stories and novels and reminiscences from friends and family members. The economic decline of Berks County, the isolation of Updike's parents, and the resulting pressure on Updike to flee the area, seem to have been important factors in the development of his personality and artistic gifts. Therefore, economic, cultural, and historical information about Berks County are included to clarify the explanations about situations in the Updike family.; The novels The Poorhouse Fair, The Centaur, and Of the Farm make extensive nostalgic use of Shillington and the Berks County setting generally. They also serve as commemorations of Updike's maternal grandfather, father, and mother, respectively. Nostalgic renderings of setting do not detract from Updike's accurate recollections of the area.; Updike's three "Rabbit" novels are set in Brewer, a fictionalized locale based on Updike's memories of Reading. Unlike the nostalgic rendering of Shillington, which is called Olinger in Updike's novels, Brewer is presented as a place of blue-collar vulgarity and increasing social disintegration.; The seven novels not set locally are briefly examined. The unifying connection among them appears to be the connection that ties them to Berks County: they thematically reveal Updike's conservatism on social and political issues, apparently rooted in a conservative upbringing in a Pennsylvania Dutch family.; Updike will probably continue to write descriptive, conservative novels which thematically rely on local sociological material. Updike occupies the middle ground between regional American novelists and those with no regional tendencies. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)... |
