book / 1978
The World According to Garp
Garp's life as a writer, husband, son, and father unfolds inside a world where comedy and violence keep colliding.
Verified facts
- Author
- John Irving
- Published
- 1978
- Language
- English
PlotGeeks explainer signals
Why read this explainer
Garp's wish to protect his family develops in a life shaped by fame and writing. Sudden violence repeatedly exceeds the control he seeks.
PlotGeeks note
The accident makes private secrecy consequential beyond those keeping it. Garp's fear for his family cannot make domestic life predictable.
Connected knowledge
Connected in PlotGeeks
Related explainers and browse pages for The World According to Garp.
- Compare with The World According to Garp (1982 film)
Compare what changes between the 1978 book and the 1982 film.
- Explore Family
Family can offer shelter, impose a role, or become the system a character must escape.
Timeline
Major events
- Two writers emerge
Garp begins writing fiction while Jenny writes the autobiography that makes her a public figure.
- The family collision
Garp's car hits the vehicle occupied by Helen and her lover, killing Walt and injuring Duncan.
- Jenny's assassination
Jenny is killed at a political rally, leaving Garp to face her followers and charitable legacy.
- Life after Garp
Pooh Percy shoots Garp at Steering, and the epilogue traces the lives continuing after his death.
Story in 60 Seconds
The short version
Raised by the nurse Jenny Fields, T. S. Garp grows up at the Steering School and becomes a novelist. Jenny's autobiography brings her fame and followers, while Garp marries Helen and raises children alongside his writing. Affairs strain their marriage, and a collision involving Helen's lover kills their son Walt and injures Duncan. The family struggles through recovery as Garp writes The World According to Bensenhaver. Jenny is assassinated, and Garp takes on parts of her charitable legacy. After publicly supporting Ellen James against the movement using her name, he is shot by Pooh Percy.
Spoiler sectionEnding ExplainedShow ending detailsHide ending details
Pooh Percy kills Garp at the Steering gymnasium after he has defended Ellen James's rejection of the Ellen Jamesians. His death follows Jenny's assassination and the family's earlier losses. The epilogue continues beyond him to describe the lives of the survivors. Family affection and writing persist as legacies, while neither has protected their creator from violence.
Original context
Why it matters
Writing inside family life
Garp's fiction develops alongside domestic fear and loss, while Jenny's autobiography changes her public identity. The embedded writing shows different uses and consequences of turning experience into books.
Key turning points
The accident and recovery
The collision kills Walt and permanently injures Duncan, turning the adults' secrecy into consequences borne by their children. Recovery requires mourning alongside the work of repairing the marriage.
Character links
Who connects to whom
Character motivations
The desire to prevent harm
Garp's anxiety makes him intensely protective of his children. His affairs and anger also expose the limits of imagining himself solely as the person defending his family.
Adaptation
Book and film connection
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