is journey south begin to meet to pull him back to Mt. Judge and Janice. When the Reverend Eccles appears, Rabbit realizes that, "the world's such a web anyway" . Soon, when life between them becomes more and more complicated, Rabbit realizes that his relationship with Ruth is much like his marriage to Janice.Rabbit wants to find the straight path and blast through the net that contains him. That path seems to open to him when he is notified by Eccles of the imminent birth of Janice's baby. After the birth, the long-awaited reconciliation between Janice and Rabbit occurs. On the way home from the hospital, "the curving highway seems a wide straight road" open once again to Rabbit. Moreover, when he returns home he finds that Janice's father has paid the rent on their apartment while Rabbit was living with Ruth, and he offers Rabbit a job selling used cars. These events provide Rabbit further evidence that he is on the straight road again.At home, with Janice still in the hospital, Rabbit reworks his and Nelson's life into some semblance of order. He finds pleasure in the details of domestic life: caring for his son, playing at the park, cooking, and maintaining the apartment. He gives up his job gardening for Mrs. Smith. Nevertheless, he soon begins to feel the truth: he has not put himself on the straight road, "the thing that had left his life had left irrevocably; no search would recover it. No flight would reach it. . . . The best he can do is submit to the system and give Nelson the chance to pass, as he did, unthinkingly, through it".Furthermore, his mother is angry with him for returning to Janice and not staying with Ruth. Rabbit reflects on her behavior: "You act like I've gone over to the other side. You're acting insane. Don't you know it's the right side and why don't you praise me". Although Rabbit thought he had put himself back on the straight path, his mother's behavior towards him coupled with his constant thoughts abo...
