We are introduced to young David when he first moves to his mother’s birthplace at a farm. At the start of the story, there is a description of a couch. This description reflects David’s current feelings while fiving us insight on who David is. We get a peek into David’s life when Updike describes the activities that David had done on the couch, such as “eating raisins and reading mystery novels and science fiction and P.G Wodehouse.” (116) This shows us that David is a intelligent, knowledge seeking individual. The comparison Updike uses to compare David to the couch shows us that David needs to find his place in this new town. One can see this when Updike states “like the furniture, he had to find a new place”. (117) David is from a family that is full of contrast beliefs. His mother has a more spiritual perspective on the world. She has a great respect for the world and out of that respect, she finds evidence of god. This contrasts the beliefs of the men in David’s family; the grandfather, father and David have similar views. They have a more logical stance where they accept. They seem to constantly searching and asking for more. This is shown through the father’s regular church activity and the grandfathers worn out bible. These personality traits and influences effect how David reacts.
While trying to settle in to his new house, David comes across one of his mother’s books. When skimming through this book, he was enlightened about the life of Jesus. He interprets Jesus as “an obscure political agitator, a kind of hobo, in a minor colony of the roman empire.” (118) He is taken a back and is confused by the exert; the reason for this is shown when David thinks “survivals and misunderstandings more farfetched were reported daily in the papers” (119) David takes his time digesting what he just read and rethinks his belief in god. As he loses his faith in God a fear of death starts growing in him. This is caused by the realization there might not be anything after this life. This new perspective gives him a apathetic perspective on life. He even stops reading, so he can avoid the thought of death. One can see David’s obsession with death when describes his books: “In mystery novels people died like dolls being discarded; in science fiction enormities of space and time conspired to crush the humans”. (John Updike, 141) He stars being resentful towards people who advocate the beliefs of Christianity. He ignores his mom and continuously isolates himself from her. When she figures out what is wrong, she tries to comfort him by explaining her beliefs. He responds with anger, believing she is ignorant. Updike explains David’s resentment for her beautifully; “all her grace, her gentleness, her love of beauty, gathered into a passive intensity that made him intensely hate her” (138) David even shows resentment against his teachers. One can see this when David struggles against his teacher to find the answers to his questions. David has to accept reality before he can find closure.
David ends his confusion and doubt about religion by accepting his surroundings. This is done when he is doing an errand for his grandmother, which is shooting the pigeons in the barn. At first, he is hesitant about the chore he has to do but because of pressure from his family he decides to do it. When he does this task he makes a connection with heaven and god. The connection releases him from his worries and gives him closure about the situation. This give us a moral lesson on how to deal with change, this is by the use of acceptance. An individual needs to settle into his surrounding as quickly as possible to avoid discontent. David did this by a simple task, which shows us that even little experience can hold so much depth in them. sss
