Deal Me in Challenge: When Everyone Was Pregnant by John Updike

Card Drawn:

Beach day, circa 1960's.

"When Everyone Was Pregnant" is quintessential John Updike: a highly formalized literary aesthetic of everyday life focusing on a male protagonist going through a mid-life crisis. Updike is a master of nuance and intricate craftsmanship. Many of his short stories, like this one, are solipsistic; they emphasize a more individualistic approach to story-telling with a first-person narrator reflecting on the past through a series of vignettes. The narrative technique of the montage has been perfected by Updike and this lyrical meditation is splendidly effective to generate powerful feelings of irrevocable loss.

The narrator comes from the conservative baby boomer generation and is struggling to ground himself in the present; he feels displaced, far removed from the drastically changing world. The wistful longing for those halcyon days when people "lived in fear and gratitude" becomes a repeated mantra. The so-called "American Dream" was attainable if you were white, privileged and working middle-class. The economy was booming, people had good jobs, you could afford a down-payment on a house and yes, women were having lots of babies because a man could actually afford to provide for his growing family (hence, the title of the story). It was difficult not to read this story and think of all those "OK BOOMER" memes that have cropped up recently. In most cases, a story like this about an old white dude criticizing the younger generation for screwing up society would irritate me to no end but Updike is such an amazing writer and can be forgiven. I was able to appreciate the distinct refinement of his writing; the meticulously constructed fragmentation of memories within the narrative montage that seem scattered but, upon closer examination, actually contain an aesthetic unity. He delicately walks a fine line between nostalgia and mawkishness, which is no easy task for any writer.

The narrator has become more conscious of his own forgetfulness and mortality. He seeks transcendence (or perhaps immortality) through the creative art of writing. Re-assembling and reclaiming the past is not only a strategy for him to make sense of the incomprehensible present but also serves as a defense mechanism against an uncertain future. This story exists within the idealized realm of memory and the inherent paradox is not lost on Updike: these memories have been romanticized but that does not make them any less poignant.