Separating John Updike

John Conceals His Emotion through Melodrama
The story “Separating” by John Updike shares the story of a family that is about to separate. Each child in the story handles the news differently, the son, John primarily deals with it through melodrama. The parents are trying to prepare themselves to share the news with each of their children. They disagree on whether they should tell them individually or as a group, but the mother pleads to tell them individually. They also try to decide when the best time for each of them to be told is. The son, John, reacts explosively when he hears the news. This is shocking to the family because John is not normally this type of person. This is shown when he takes a cigarette from his sister and it surprises the family. Updike shares this statement about …show more content…
He is acting out to conceal his true emotions. John cries this statement, “What do you care about us? We’re just little things you had” (Updike 1429). However, he was so over dramatic that even his sisters laughed at him, causing him to laugh as well. He realizes how silly his actions are and strange his reaction to the news was. His sister tries to reason with him, but cannot formulate an intelligible argument. As his sister is speaking he crumbles up a piece of paper and places it into his salad and eats it; he is expecting a reaction or encouragement from his family. However, he does not receive support; his father recognizes this behavior is not normal for his son and escorts him out of the room. As they go outside John continues this behavior, but then he breaks. His father grabs his hand and John finally releases his feelings, he explains “It’s not just the separation, it’s the whole crummy year, I hate school, you can’t make any friends, the history teachers a scud” (Updike 1430). He reveals that it is not only the separation that is affecting his emotions. His emotions got the best of him and the overwhelming feelings he was