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Rabbit Run And One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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Perhaps our lives are but a simply a game, a game to which society sets the rules and to which we adapt. These rules determine our positions, both in society and as an individual. John Updike in Rabbit, Run and Erica Jong in The Fear of Flying extensively use the role of women as a theme throughout their works, but in strikingly different ways. The film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest furthermore stages(I would use a different word: serves maybe?) as a pivot between the two novels highlighting how a women's position in life affects other characters and surrounding society.
Within the novel Rabbit, Run, Updike illustrates many different, classic, stereotypical views of women. By these women, examples of whore, wife, temptress, and mother are presented. In each example we gain a better understanding of their roles and how they revolutionize society. Throughout the story, Rabbit chose to come and go as he pleased, openly cheating on his wife, Janice, with another woman. When she has her baby, Rabbit comes back and she responds by saying, "I told Mother it looks like you and she didn't want to hear it...I wanted to see you". Janice forgives her husband for his unfaithfulness and accepts him back into the home. For men, the consequences for their actions do not affect them. Janice on the other hand cannot provide for herself, much less her two children as well. In the end, …show more content…
Despite the fact that she has just given birth, Janice feels shame for not keeping the house clean. When she realizes that her mother is coming over,

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