The World According to Garp, John Irving’s fourth novel, was first published in 1978 and continues to enjoy a wide circulation. The novel features elements drawn from Irving’s life and is a literary satire of gender dynamics in the wake of second-wave feminism. Irving himself claims that it’s a protest novel. The main subject areas include parenthood, death, feminism, manhood and masculinity, marriage and family structures, the influence of literature in a reader’s life, and sexual politics.

This study guide refers to the Kindle version of the Dutton 40th anniversary edition.

Content Warning: This guide discusses graphic depictions of sexual violence and rape; derogatory language toward gay, trans, and women characters; derogatory language toward Japanese people; violence against children, including sexual violence; self-mutilation; and suicidal ideation.

Plot Summary

Jenny Fields, a nurse, does not want to be in a relationship, but she wants to be a mother. One of her patients, a dying soldier, cannot speak (and therefore cannot consent). She rapes him to impregnate herself. She names the baby T. S. Garp; the T. S. does not stand for anything, and Garp is the last name of the baby’s biological father. She accepts a nursing job at a private boarding school in the hopes that eventually attending the boarding school will serve as a springboard for a good life for her son.

As a teenager, Garp is determined to prove his literary prowess to his friend Helen, who is a devoted reader and burgeoning critic of literature. Garp and Jenny travel to Vienna in the hopes of encountering literary inspiration. During their time in Vienna, Garp begins to freely act on what he believes is his unavoidable and natural male lust. Jenny writes an autobiography called A Sexual Suspect, which becomes an iconic text for second-wave feminists. After its publication, Garp finds himself drowning in his mother’s literary shadow. His story “The Pension Grillparzer,” based on his experiences in Vienna, is moderately successful.

Garp and Helen marry, and Helen pursues a career as an English professor while Garp acts as homemaker and primary caregiver for their two sons. Jenny has profited from her book’s success and retires from nursing, while also financially supporting Garp and Helen. Jenny starts a foundation for women in need, inviting them to stay with her. Several factions of feminists claim Jenny as an idol, including the Ellen James Society, a group of women who cut out their tongues to honor Ellen James, an 11-year-old girl whose rapists cut out her tongue to keep her from naming or describing them. One of Jenny’s devotees, a trans woman named Roberta Muldoon, is a former NFL player who becomes Garp’s best friend.

Garp writes two more novels, one of which receives backlash for its violent depictions of rape. Garp struggles with considerable anxiety and fear of his children’s death as he navigates parenthood and frequently cheats on Helen even while professing to love her. Helen eventually cheats on him with a graduate student. One night, Helen is having sex with her student in his car while Garp is driving their two sons home. The cars collide, and one of their sons is killed while the other loses an eye. In the accident’s aftermath, Jenny cares for Garp, Helen, and their son Duncan as they recover from their injuries. As he adjusts to having one eye, Duncan discovers that he wants to be a photographer and artist. Garp and Helen manage to work through this family tragedy and have a third child, a daughter they name after Garp’s mother.

Jenny becomes active in New Hampshire politics and is assassinated by a man who blames her book for his wife daring to think for herself. Jenny’s disciples are adamant that her funeral should only be attended by women. Roberta helps Garp disguise himself to attend his mother’s funeral. He meets Ellen James, who opposes how her name has been co-opted by the radical organization. She becomes like a daughter to Garp and Helen, who move to live at Garp’s old school when he becomes the school’s new wrestling coach.

Garp establishes the Fields Foundation to honor his mother, and Roberta becomes the foundation’s administrator, living at the Fields estate known as Dog’s Head Harbor. Just as Garp and his family are starting to settle into their new lives at the Steering School, Garp is assassinated by a childhood acquaintance who was radicalized by the Ellen James Society.