Rabbit Angstorm - the Echo of Commonality: A Study on Updike's Protagonist as a Reflection of Identity Crisis in Comparison with Kafka’s Ideologies

Identity crisis as a development of the contemporary world is studied by various researchers and critics. The need for man to develop an original identity in the society is deemed to be necessary, not because man cannot survive without it, but because the contemporary society demands it. From the very early literature, the topic of identity crisis has been studied in various contexts; with most of the literature focusing on the American society. The post-war American society of the 1950s was overcome with the need of filling the emptiness in life which was accustomed to the trend of ‘the quest for identity.’ Though not entirely understood to be a trend in the contemporary American society, the quest for identity was majorly probed into. The current paper starts firstly with literature review of John Updike as one of the most prominent American contemporary writers in order to understand the concept of identity crisis through the novel, Rabbit, Run as well as the paper will also probe into the element of identity crisis and its treatment by Updike. Accordingly, the protagonist of Updike, Harry Rabbit Angstrom will be studied to understand the concept of identity crisis in the American society. Besides, there is some brief comparative study related to the concept of identity crisis by John Updike and Franz Kafka (Metamorphosis) representing the two protagonists; Harry Angstrom and Gregor Samsa.