--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Standing amid the tan, excited…" description: "\"“Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas crowd at the Southwest Florida Regional Airport, Rabbit Angstrom has a funny sudden feeling that what he..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/john-updike-396_airplane_standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-chris_3066352.jpg" --- # Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas crowd at the… ![“Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas crowd at the Southwest Florida Regional Airport, Rabbit Angstrom has a funny sudden feeling that what he has come to meet, what's floating in unseen about to land, is not his son Nelson and daughter-in-law Pru and their two children but something more…” quote by John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/john-updike-396_airplane_standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-chris_3066352.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/john-updike-396_airplane_standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-chris_3066352.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/john-updike-396_airplane_standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-chris_3066352.jpg) > ““Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas crowd at the Southwest Florida Regional Airport, Rabbit Angstrom has a funny sudden feeling that what he has come to meet, what's floating in unseen about to land, is not his son Nelson and daughter-in-law Pru and their two children but something more ominous and intimately his: his own death, shaped vaguely like an airplane.”” [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The passage conveys a sudden, eerie realization that the protagonist feels an impending personal death amidst a bustling airport scene. **In simple terms:** He senses his own death approaching. Key Takeaway Pay attention to subtle signs of personal crisis. Themes mortality anxiety family travel Mood reflective somber Type literary descriptive When to use this quote - airport - family reunion - holiday travel - personal reflection Key Concepts existential dread foreshadowing Questions to Reflect On - What moments in life feel unexpectedly ominous? - How do environments trigger existential thoughts? A Different Perspective The metaphor may be overly dramatic for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) ## Related quotes > [A fighter without a gun...is like an airplane without a wing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brigadier-general-robin-olds/a-fighter-without-a-gun-is-like-an-airplane-without-a-wing/) Brigadier General Robin Olds > [Apollo was a big, unwieldy vehicle. I had a problem with the flight controllers over that. It would try to fare its way like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wally-schirra/apollo-was-a-big-unwieldy-vehicle-i-had-a-problem-with-the-flight/) [Wally Schirra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wally-schirra/) > [Any time I'm in a moving thing, like an airplane, I'm usually asleep before we even get on our way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-brooks/any-time-i-m-in-a-moving-thing-like-an-airplane-i-m-usually-asleep/) [Garth Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-brooks/) > [I wanted the album to be aerodynamic, like an airplane taking off from a runway - all of a sudden you're in the air.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jens-lekman/i-wanted-the-album-to-be-aerodynamic-like-an-airplane-taking-off-from/) [Jens Lekman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jens-lekman/) > [“Like an airplane, an oven, or an elevator, Faebook is a tool that can make life's To-Dos fun and easy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-abram/like-an-airplane-an-oven-or-an-elevator-faebook-is-a-tool-that-can/) Carolyn Abram > [My dear, old age is like an airplane flying in a storm. Once you're in it there's nothing you can do. You can't stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/golda-meir/my-dear-old-age-is-like-an-airplane-flying-in-a-storm-once-you-re-in/) [Golda Meir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/golda-meir/) > [“Wake me up if you see anything alarming." "Like...?" "Like an airplane dropping on our heads or a band of marauders on the side…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/summer-lane/wake-me-up-if-you-see-anything-alarming-like-like-an-airplane/) [Summer Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/summer-lane/) > [Civilization, like an airplane in flight, survives only as it keeps going forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-like-an-airplane-in-flight-survives-only-as-it-keeps/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [A speech is like an airplane engine. It may sound like hell but you've got to go on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-t-piper/a-speech-is-like-an-airplane-engine-it-may-sound-like-hell-but-you-ve/) William T. Piper > [I like my airplane. It's as much a part of me as anything but my wife and kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-palmer/i-like-my-airplane-it-s-as-much-a-part-of-me-as-anything-but-my-wife/) [Arnold Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-palmer/) > [I grew up on movies like Airplane! and The Naked Gun. You probably saw it more recently, but as a kid I grew up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-tisdale/i-grew-up-on-movies-like-airplane-and-the-naked-gun-you-probably-saw/) [Ashley Tisdale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-tisdale/) > [Hobbies take place in the cellar and smell of airplane glue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/hobbies-take-place-in-the-cellar-and-smell-of-airplane-glue/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I've jumped out of an airplane 34 times. I've dove 212 feet under water. I've done a lot of things that defied death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/i-ve-jumped-out-of-an-airplane-34-times-i-ve-dove-212-feet-under/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [I shoot in black and white, sometimes color, sometimes if it looks good I shoot out the window of the airplanes or whatever, anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-shoot-in-black-and-white-sometimes-color-sometimes-if-it-looks-good/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) ## More by John Updike > [Life is a roller coaster, you have your ups and downs unless you fall off.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/life-is-a-roller-coaster-you-have-your-ups-and-downs-unless-you-fall/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Children are not a zoo of entertainingly exotic creatures, but an array of mirrors in which the human predicament leaps out at us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/children-are-not-a-zoo-of-entertainingly-exotic-creatures-but-an/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The New England spirit does not seek solutions in a crowd; raw light and solitariness are less dreaded than welcomed as enhancers of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-new-england-spirit-does-not-seek-solutions-in-a-crowd-raw-light/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I imagine most of that stuff on the information highway is roadkill anyway.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-imagine-most-of-that-stuff-on-the-information-highway-is-roadkill/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Families, doing everything for each other out of imagined obligation and always getting in each other's way, what a tangle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/families-doing-everything-for-each-other-out-of-imagined-obligation/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The fucking world is running out of gas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-fucking-world-is-running-out-of-gas/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [The theme of old age doesn't seem to fascinate Hollywood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-theme-of-old-age-doesn-t-seem-to-fascinate-hollywood/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“The mind cannot fall asleep as long as it watches itself. Only when the mind moves unwatched and becomes absorbed in images that tug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/the-mind-cannot-fall-asleep-as-long-as-it-watches-itself-only-when/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“it was somehow wonderful of her to be, in every detail, herself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/it-was-somehow-wonderful-of-her-to-be-in-every-detail-herself/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [In fiction, imaginary people become realer to us than any named celebrity glimpsed in a series of rumored events, whose causes and subtler ramifications…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/in-fiction-imaginary-people-become-realer-to-us-than-any-named/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Her hair had been going gray as long as he could remember; she bundled it behind in a bun held with hairpins that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/her-hair-had-been-going-gray-as-long-as-he-could-remember-she-bundled/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Possession diminishes perception of value, immediately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/possession-diminishes-perception-of-value-immediately/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [I can't bear to finish things, beyond a certain point they get heavy. There's something so dead about a finished painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-can-t-bear-to-finish-things-beyond-a-certain-point-they-get-heavy/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [“Some people find fall depressing, others hate spring. I've always been a spring person myself. All that growth, you can feel Nature groaning, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/some-people-find-fall-depressing-others-hate-spring-i-ve-always-been/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) [Explore all 592 John Updike quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## More Airplane quotes > [The time that one gains cannot be accumulated in a storehouse; it is contradictory to want to save up existence, which, the fact is,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-time-that-one-gains-cannot-be-accumulated-in-a-storehouse-it-is/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [I shoot in black and white, sometimes color, sometimes if it looks good I shoot out the window of the airplanes or whatever, anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/i-shoot-in-black-and-white-sometimes-color-sometimes-if-it-looks-good/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [I've jumped out of an airplane 34 times. I've dove 212 feet under water. I've done a lot of things that defied death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-ventura/i-ve-jumped-out-of-an-airplane-34-times-i-ve-dove-212-feet-under/) [Jesse Ventura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-ventura/) > [I believe that anyone who flies in an airplane and doesn't spend most of his time looking out the window wastes his money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-reisner/i-believe-that-anyone-who-flies-in-an-airplane-and-doesn-t-spend-most/) [Marc Reisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-reisner/) > [We live in a world where it has become politically correct to avoid absolutes. Many want all religions to be given the same honor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-live-in-a-world-where-it-has-become-politically-correct-to-avoid/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [On the second airplane to france and we're done ! yeyyyyyyyyy !! this one was more full :P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shmmopy/on-the-second-airplane-to-france-and-we-re-done-yeyyyyyyyyy-this-one/) Shmmopy > [The way I see it, you can either work for a living or you can fly airplanes. Me, I'd rather fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-morgan/the-way-i-see-it-you-can-either-work-for-a-living-or-you-can-fly/) Len Morgan > [I'm 17 years old. I'm not a straight-A student or anything. Even so, I figured out how to make an Internet that they can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-doctorow/i-m-17-years-old-i-m-not-a-straight-a-student-or-anything-even-so-i/) [Cory Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-doctorow/) > [I don't have a fear of flying; I have a fear of crashing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bob-thornton/i-don-t-have-a-fear-of-flying-i-have-a-fear-of-crashing/) [Billy Bob Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bob-thornton/) > [From computers to information technology to airplanes, it has been America's unique blend of republican government and free-market capitalism that has allowed us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-nethercutt/from-computers-to-information-technology-to-airplanes-it-has-been/) [George Nethercutt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-nethercutt/) > [I've been racking my brain. I've been trying to figure out how Bob Dole's luggage got on my airplane...I told the doctor, I said,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/i-ve-been-racking-my-brain-i-ve-been-trying-to-figure-out-how-bob/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Sometimes life is like being stuck in the middle-seat of an airplane, next to a ridiculously fat person and a crying baby.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-life-is-like-being-stuck-in-the-middle-seat-of-an-airplane/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm sure the most favorite airplane in my career would still be the Sabre F86 cleft wing , which allowed me to be credited…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buzz-aldrin/i-m-sure-the-most-favorite-airplane-in-my-career-would-still-be-the/) [Buzz Aldrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buzz-aldrin/) > [I do not use airplanes. They strike me as unsporting. You can have an automobile accident-and survive. You can be on a sinking ship-and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/i-do-not-use-airplanes-they-strike-me-as-unsporting-you-can-have-an/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [John Travolta said he sometimes lets his friends take control of his airplane even though they don't know what they're doing. Then Travolta said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conan-o-brien/john-travolta-said-he-sometimes-lets-his-friends-take-control-of-his/) [Conan O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conan-o-brien/) Browse all 935 Airplane quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas crowd at the Southwest Florida Regional Airport, Rabbit Angstrom has a funny sudden feeling that what he has come to meet, what's floating in unseen about to land, is not his son Nelson and daughter-in-law Pru and their two children but something more ominous and intimately his: his own death, shaped vaguely like an airplane.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Updike" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-christmas-crowd-at-the-southwest/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Airplane" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-christmas-crowd-at-the-southwest/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/john-updike-396_airplane_standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-chris_3066352.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/john-updike-396_airplane_standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-chris_3066352.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/986/john-updike-396_airplane_standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-chris_3066352.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas crowd at the Southwest Florida Regional Airport, Rabbit…” — John Updike", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Updike", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-christmas-crowd-at-the-southwest/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/standing-amid-the-tan-excited-post-christmas-crowd-at-the-southwest/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```