DOCUMENT RESUME ED 107 665 SP:009292 AUTHOR Upshaw, Kathryn Jane TITLE John Updike and Norman Mailer: Sport Inferences. PUB DATE Sep 72 NOTE 131p.; Master's Thesis, University of North Carolina at Greensboro EDRS PRICE MF-$0.76 HC-$6.97 PLUS POSTAGE DESCRIPTORS *Athletics; *Literary Analysis; Literary Styles; Literature; *Novels IDENTIFIERS Mailer (Norman); *Updike (John) ABSTRACT The phenomenon of writer use of sport inferences in the literary genre of the novel is examined in theworks of Updike and Mailer. Novels of both authorswere reviewed in order to study the pattern of urage in each novel. From thesepatterns, concepts which illustrated the sport philosophies of eachauthor were used for general comparisons of the two.Success and failure, life and life concepts, reality, character virtues, gender roles,sociocultural environment, and literarrinferences servedas categories for comparison. Updike employed reality concepts in relationto organized sport and life concepts in relation to sport activity, creating illusions of reality in order to describe middleclass American life. Mailer utilized agonsitic sport inferences in projectingAmerican existential philosophy. Three hypotheseswere projected and upheld by this study:(a) the authors* personal sport backgrounds, experiences, and pervading philosophies were reflected in theirnovels; (b) the purpose of the characters* performances in sport reflected the authors* backgrounds; and (c) distinct patterns ofsport inferences were consistent throughout novels by the same author. (Author/JS/MSD) JOHN UPDIKE AND NORMAN MAILER: 'I SPORT INFERENCES v, by Kathryn Jane Upshaw A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Physical Education Greensboro September, 1972 U I DEPARTMENT°, HEALTH. EDUCATION I WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS SEENREPRO DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVEDFROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGIN ATING IT POINTS OF VIEWOR OPINIONS sTA TEO DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRE Approved by SENT OFFICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF .EOUCATIoN POSITION ORPOLICY BEST COP! AVAILABLE APPROVAL SHEET This thesis has been approved by thefollowing committee of the Faculty of the Graduate Schoolat The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Thesis Adviser Oral Examination Committee Members r V ...... .. , * Li........ TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE iv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 2 Statement of the Problem 2 Design for the Investigation 3 DEFINITION OF TERMS 4 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS 5 2. THE NOVEL AS A GENRE 6 THE ELEMENTS OF THE NOVEL 8 Plot 8 Characterization 9 Setting 10 CONTENT OR STYLE 11 3. JOHN UPDIKE 13 BIOGRAPHY 13 REVIEW OF THE POORHOUSE FAIR 20 REVIEW OF RABBIT, RUN 22 REVIEW OF THE CENTAUR 29 REVIEW OF OF THE FARM 34 REVIEW OF COUPLES 36 REVIEW OF RABBIT REDUX 41 434378 Chapter Part UPDIKE'S USE OF SPORT 46 Reality 46 Life Concepts 53 Literary Inferences 60 4. NORMAN MAILER 62 BIOGRAPHY 62 REVIEW OF THE NAKED AND THE DEAD 69 REVIEW OF BARBARY SHORE 75 REVIEW OF THE DEER PARK 79 REVIEW OF AN AMERICAN DREAM 86 REVIEW OF WHY ARE WE IN VIETNAM? 93 MAILER'S USE OP SPORT 98 Personality Development 99 Socio-Cultural Connotations 104 Literary Inferences 110 5. COMPARISON OF UPDIKE AND MAILER 114 SUCCESS AND FAILURE 117 LIFE AND LIFE CONCEPTS 118 REALITY 118 VIRTUES OF CHARACTER 118 GENDER ROLES 119 SOCIO-CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT 120 LITERARY INFERENCES 120 CONCLUDING COMMENTS 121 BIBLIOGRAPHY 123 iv PREFACE Physical educators have begun to takean active interest in the relationship between physical education and otherdisciplines.Sport sociology, history of sport, and sport as'anart form are all areas within the complex structure of the sport division of physical edu- cation which have received increasing attentionamong physical edu- cators. With this expansion of interest, itseems appropriate that sport in literature be included as an area of study. Literature is an art form; literature reflects the society of the age in which it is written. Therefore, the body of sport knowledge which is applied through technique to the creation of a literaryart form should also contribute to the reflections of a particular age. The process of how an author uses sport in this way has fascinating implications. For the purpose of tb1 research, the literary genre of the novel has been chosen for examitatio0 Obviously, this is only one segment of pos- sible studies to determine the relationship between sport and literature. I would like to express here my gratitude to Dr. Celeste Ulrich, advisor for this research, who, through her dedicationto her profes- sion, has generously offered assistance beyond the duties andexpec- tationsof her position. I would also like to acknowledge. the members of my family whose patience, aid, and support through the frustrations and ideologies involved in the writing of this thesis havegreatly facilitated its completion. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION The use of sport in the development ofa novel is a literary technique used bynumerous authors. Ernest Hemingway, notednovelist and a sportsman, usedsport as an important characteristic ofmany of his better works.The works of Hemingway have been analyzedextensive: citing fascinatingimplications for sport and literature. Because the relationship of sport and literature seems significant,an investiga- tion to select two modern contemporary authorswho also might utilize sport as a novelized toolwas undertaken. At the time of thisquest, Norman Mailer had just appeared on a televisionshow in which he dis- cussed how he exchanged writing lessons with boxingchampion Jos& Torrez. Within the past ten years, John Updike's ex-basketballhero, Harry Angstrom, featured in the novel Rabbit,Run, has been of notable literary examination. Biographical findingsindicated a sport back- ground in the lives of both authors andsuggested each hada continuing interest in the sportphenomenon. From the initialreflections on the use of sport in the development of a novel,it was decided to expand the scope of the study to include the relationshipof the authors' backgrounds to the sport forms alluded to intheir novels andto inves- tigate the way in which sport was employed in thedevelopment of a novel. Literary experts have said "A novelist writesabout what he knows . " (Frohock, 1961:14). The problem for thisresearch has 1' "1...$1; 2 evolved from the above statement. How do Updike and Mailerincorporate the sportphenomenon into their illusions of realityin their novels? How congruent are the authors'personal sport interests with thesport usages in their respective novels? The design for this studyincludes the examinationof the respective styles of the two authors,a survey of the lives of the two authors,a study of the sport inferenceswithin each novel written by each ofthe two authors, and an analysisof the relationship of theabove findings. SIGNIFICANCE OF THESTUDY An authormay turn to sport allusions in hiswritings to aid in the representation ofa universal or complex perspective of life. Rarely are theseallusions to sport studied specificallyas they relate to the development of the work. The significance of this studyis its focus on the use of sport in literaryworks. Most authors drawfrom their own experiences andknowledge as they developa work. The sport background of an authorwould, then, influence thesport allusions used in his works.As the biographical information for both John Updike andNorman Mailer indicates someasso- ciation of thesemen with sport, the study of theuse of sport in their works in relationto their own experiences withsport is, also, sig- nificant. In addition,there is some merit in anattemptto synthesize unique areas of knowledge ina holistic art form; in thiscase, sport and literature. Statement of theProblem Through the analysisof the lives and writings of moderncontem- porary American authorsJohn Updike and Norman Mailer,the allusions:- 3 to sport were studied with a view toward understanding theinferences of that phenomenon on the development of the novel's elementsof plot, character, and setting. Furthermore, sport inferenceswere studied in light of style. Design for the Investigation Investigation of authors John Updike and Norman Maileras indi- viduals, as novelists, and as sportsmen provided backgroundinformation for each of the two authors. Each of Updike's novelswere read in sequence of publication. The novels and their datesof publication are The Poorhouse Fair1959 Rabbit, Run 1960 The Centaur1963 Of the Farm 1965 Couples 1968 Rabbit Redux1971. The same was done for Mailer's works. The novels and the datesof pub- lication are The Naked and the Dead 1948 Barbary Shore1951 The Deer Park 1955 An American Dream1965 Why Are We in Vietnam?1967. Allusions to sport were extracted with the reading of eachnovel. The achieved content of each novel was analyzed as it was developed bythe style of the author. Sport allusions as theywere incorporated into the elements of the novel were included in a review of eachnovel.The 4 broad incorporation of theuse of sport in the novels was then inves- tigated to determine concepts ofsport which were evidenced throughout the author's style as a novelist. Sport concepts were studied for significancein the projection of the following hypotheses: A. The use of sport in the development ofthe novel will reflect the author's personal sportbackground and experiences and his pervading philosophy of sport. B. The performer's purpose in sportwill