Facing Death Through John UpdikeOrdinary people aren't 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... arise from his life and especially his relationship with a six-room brownstone farmhouse... Updike's mother was born in that house and died there" (Tuerk). One topic he examines in his books is how people deal with death. In one of his stories called "The Cats", a man named David goes to his mother's house after her death. He constantly remembers past events with his mother and these give him a sense of comfort in the difficult time he is facing. The next story is "His Mother Inside Him", a story in which Allen Dow realizes, looking at the events of his childhood, that there is a part of his mother inside him. He forgets about his mother's death and compares his mother's actions to what she would have done. The third story is "The Sandstone Farmhouse" in which a man named Joey prepares the sale of his late mother's house. Once again, he recalls the events of his childhood. These books share many common themes, but one is surprisingly obvious, dealing with death. John Updike explores the theme of death by focusing on the protagonist and how the character returns to previous experiences as a way to deal with his grief. One of John Updike's short stories that explores this theme is "His Mother Inside Him." In this story, Allen Dow's mother has died and the main character remembers all the things 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. Or... middle of paper... it's the friends and city life he was used to" (Tuerk). They moved because that was where his mother had grown up. "Joey remembered the stove clearly; it was painted chocolate brown and stood on small legs bent on a sheet of asbestos covered with fake wood grain paper" (Updike, "The Sandstone Farmhouse," 107). The vivid imagery used only to describe a small stove is a testament of the intense and profound memories he remembers of the farm and of his mother, he finds a flying squirrel, dead in the toilet, he is reminded of death, especially that of his mother", it reminds him of his first days on the farm and of things. that he and the 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 deal with her death more easily this way.