The Centaur (Identities and Issues in Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: John Updike
- First Published: 1963
- Genres: Long fiction, Mythological literature, Magical Realism
- Subjects: Teaching or teachers, Family or family life, United States or Americans, Adolescence, 1940’s, High schools or high school students, Sacrifice
- Locales: Pennsylvania
The Work
The Centaur, John Updike’s third novel, won for him his first National Book Award. Its story is of George Caldwell, a science teacher in a small Pennsylvania town, and his fifteen-year-old son, Peter. Updike’s own father was a teacher in the high school in Shillington, Pennsylvania, and the book was in part intended to be a tribute to his father.
In January of 1947, George fears he may have cancer and goes after school for X rays. He and Peter then drive to a swim meet in a nearby town; their 1936 Buick breaks down, forcing them to spend the night....
[The entire page is 772 words long]
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