Edward P. Vargo stated that John Updike uses ritual "to fulfill the great desire of capturing the past, to make the present meaningful through connection with the past, to overcome death, and to grasp immortality" (Contemporary Vol. 7 487). He combines the aspects and meaning of seemingly unimportant ritual along with mankind’s desire for a relationship with God to form truth and value for the past, present, and future. Updike uses his talents as a writer to bring together the conceivable and the inconceivable.

John Updike implements his philosophies and ideals in a way that brings together existence with meaning. "Updike is in the best sense of the word an intellectual novelist, a novelist of paradox, tension and complexity who as a college wit in the fifties learned that we are all symbols and inhabit symbols" (World 3752). Updike uses his be

John Updike shaped his religious beliefs from the teachings of "Karl Barth and his predecessor Kierkegaard." He [Updike] was drawn to the insistence that God is the "Wholly Other," and that "man cannot reach God and that only God can touch man" (Broadening 280). This suggests that God has a great hold over man and that He has a power to change things in our daily routines.

Updike, John. The Centaur. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1963.

Updike, John. Magill’s Survey of American Literature. Vol. 6. Ed. Frank N. Magill. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1991.

God and human instincts conflict in Mankind’s mind. The ritual of the worship of God and the ritual of love are impeded as man tries to decide between the two. There are religious and moral questions that arise from an attempt at a relationship with both (World 3758-3759). Humans must work hard to salvage this relationship. There are questions about "the difference between man and God, and consequently between ethics and faith" (World 3754). Man obtains a relationship with both themselves and God through the ritual of worship.

Morality, even though it may take on many forms, is an aspect of life that is a necessity. Updike shows that people are drawn between two forces. One is a type of morality that is abstract and the other is "a sort of response to an inner imperative." He says that "morality tries to keep us from pain. . ." (World 3754). By being moral, mankind places itself next to God. With the worship of God, ritual is able to grasp immortality. By obeying God, George Caldwell feels that he will be able to work longer and be more favored.

Updike, John. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 7. Ed. Phyllis Carmel Mendelson and Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1977.

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