Fifties Quote by John Updike
““Of course, there is a little more to it than that. We of the frailer sex have to have some wild hope, something to go to -- otherwise a million years of slavery has conditioned us to huddle by the hearth, stony as it is, and pound some more millet, and get pounded in turn by way of thanks, and commune with the moon. I speak as one of my generation, that came of age just as the Fifties ended -- I was nineteen when Lee Harvey Oswald shot them dead -- and then by twenty I was married to your father and working too hard to support him really to notice that a revolution was going on, and all the old barriers were down.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Rabbit, Run (1960) by John Updike
The speaker reflects on the lingering constraints on women, the need for hope, and the unnoticed social changes of the late 1950s.
In simple terms: Women feel trapped and need hope amid slow social change.
Key Takeaway
Seek hope and recognize hidden shifts.
Themes
gender
hope
social change
generational perspective
Mood
reflective
nostalgic
critical
Type
literary
historical
personal
When to use this quote
- post‑war domestic life
- women’s labor
- political awakening
- personal growth
Key Concepts
feminist critique
historical context
personal narrative
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you find hope in restrictive circumstances?
- What unnoticed changes have shaped your life?
A Different Perspective
The quote may overgeneralize women's experiences and ignore agency.
