Facing Death through John UpdikeOrdinary people are not often put into books, however, "prolific and acclaimed contemporary" author John Updike examines their lives in "intimate detail" (Krstovic). "Many of John Updike's works... grew out of his own life and particularly his relationship with a six-room sandstone farmhouse... Updike's mother was born in the house and died there" ( Tuerk). One of the topics he examines in his books is how people deal with death. In one of his short stories called "The Cats", a man named David goes to his mother's home after her death. He constantly remembers past events with his mother and they provide him with a sense of comfort in the difficult times he faces. The next short story is "His Mother in Him", a story in which Allen Dow realizes, looking back at the events of his childhood, that there is a part of his mother in him. He forgets his mother's death and compares his mother's actions with what he would have done. The third short story is "The Sandstone Farmhouse" where a man named Joey prepares to sell his late mother's house. Once again he remembers the events of his childhood. These books share many common themes, but one is surprisingly obvious: coping with death. John Updike explores the theme of death by focusing on the protagonist and how the character returns to his previous experiences to deal with his grief. One of John Updike's short stories that explores this theme is "His Mother in Him." In this story, Allen Dow's mother died and the main character remembers everything about her and compares them to his own life. After her death, Allen tries to find comfort by comparing his life to that of his mother and the memories he has of her. O...... middle of paper...... it's the friends and city life he was used to" (Tuerk). They moved because that's where his mother grew up. “Joey remembers the stove clearly; it was painted chocolate brown and stood on small curved legs on a sheet of asbestos lined with imitation wood grain” (Updike, “The Sandstone Farmhouse,” 107). The vivid images used just to describe a small stove speak to the intense and deep memories it evokes of the farm and his mother. When he finds a dead flying squirrel in the toilet, he remembers the death, specifically that of his mother, "reminds him of his early days on the farm. and of things that he and other members of his family accomplished there" (Tuerk). Joey has had many flashbacks to the farm and his childhood because of his mother and is able to cope with her death more easily by doing so...