How does the author present the human condition in the novel, In the Beauty of the Lilies?

As he does in many of his other works, Updike promotes a theme which has troubled many of his critics but earned him the appreciation of a large reading audience: a gentle acceptance of the human condition which recognizes that sexuality and spirituality are equally important in the development of the human personality. Unwilling to judge his characters too harshly, Updike is willing to reveal their strengths and weaknesses and leave it to readers to determine what is good and what is evil. The critic A. O. Scott, writing in The Nation, characterizes Updike's vision of modern man in this way: "erotic desire, religious belief and worldly ambition are three aspects of the sacred drive to connect the self with the world." The desire of all individuals to develop a sense of self-awareness and self-worth in an increasingly complex and impersonal world has always fascinated Updike. Each of the major figures in In the Beauty of the Lilies undergoes this struggle toward self-awareness; each faces a personal crisis in which self-worth is questioned. How each resolves these crises is what makes them interesting as people.