America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy.

Taken at face value, the line reads as a wry inversion of the paranoia implied by “conspiracy”: instead of shadowy forces bent on harm, the nation’s institutions—commerce, entertainment, self-help culture, and the rhetoric of opportunity—seem organized around the promise of personal satisfaction. The irony is double-edged: it can be heard as affectionate praise for American optimism and abundance, but also as a critique of a culture that treats happiness as an entitlement, a product, or a social obligation. In Updike’s typical mode, the sentence suggests both seduction and pressure: the “plot” to make you happy may leave little room for unhappiness, ambiguity, or spiritual longing.