The Natural By Bernard Malamud - 1543 Words

In The Natural by Bernard Malamud, Malamud displays the magnitude of how an individual’s decisions can influence their life. Malamud’s main protagonist, Roy Hobbs, is the leading example of this idea, as Hobbs continually faces both his internal struggles stemming from his desire for success, and external struggles attributed to his roller-coaster of a professional baseball career. Malamud uses Hobbs and the sport of baseball as a metaphor for typical American life by depicting Hobbs’ struggles as similar to any average American. Therefore, through the life of Roy Hobbs, Malamud alludes to the average American and explains how moral attitude can lead to a person’s success or downfall. Malamud begins by relaying the idea that Roy Hobbs, the main character, is a metaphor for the life of a typical American boy. In the first chapter of the novel, Malamud paints a background on the goals of Hobbs. Hobbs is described as a young aspiring baseball player, travelin g to Chicago in order to try out for the renowned Chicago Cubs. Due to baseball’s widespread popularity in the 1950s, Hobbs, along with other American boys during this era, shared a common dream to someday have an opportunity to play for such professional team. Malamud explicitly describes this idea of the dream of every American boy by claiming, â€Å"if it wasn’t real it was a way he sometimes had of observing himself, just as in this dream he could never shake off—that had hours ago waked him out of sound sleep—of himShow MoreRelatedThe Natural by Bernard Malamud1204 Words   |  5 Pagesstory, The Natural, certain characters and events are portrayed in a distinctive way that makes this story unique to other books and shows the typical writing style of the narrator. The author uses a repetitive writing technique that is impossible to overlook. The writer of this book is able to catch the reader’s eye with his concept of the importance of beaut iful description. The Natural, by Bernard Malamud, uses great imagery that makes the story appealing. In the beginning of The Natural, Roy HobbsRead MoreRoy Hobbs: The Tragic Hero in â€Å"The Natural† by Bernard Malamud1750 Words   |  7 PagesDiscuss the figure of Roy Hobbs as a tragic hero. To what extent do his own flaws lead him to his fate? Does he display a kind of hubris like the characters in a Greek tragedy? Does he learn from his mistakes? The book â€Å"The Natural† talks mostly about the heroic acts of Roy Hobbs, his strength of not giving up his wish. The book is basically about the characters flaws that lead him to his fate. Hobbs wish was to become one of the most popular baseball players ever existed in history. He wanted toRead MoreRepeating Multiple Mistakes in the Novel, The Natural by Bernard Malamud607 Words   |  2 PagesThe novel, The Natural, is full of cycles and the main character, Roy Hobbs, keep on repeating his mistakes from the past, allowing the same thing to happen multiple times in his life. Although Roy is gifted and talented, he also has flaws that prevent him from succeeding. Malamud is trying to say that human doesn’t recognize their potential and how to take advantage of it until it’s too late and what prevents us from recognizing and reaching our full potential are corruption, human flaws and destinyRead MoreThe Natural By Bernard Malamud And The Great Gatsby By F. Sc ott Fitzgerald2483 Words   |  10 Pagesstrengths and diverse shortcomings. When comparing two people, parallels can be drawn between them, but crucial dissimilarities will be highlighted as well during the process. Such is the case when it comes to analyzing the protagonists of The Natural by Bernard Malamud and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both Roy Hobbs and Jay Gatsby, the main characters of the two books respectively, are driven by money and their lust for women, and these factors lead to their eventual downfall; however, theirRead MoreThe Effects of Harriet Bird, Memo Paris, and Iris Lemon in the Natural by Bernard Malamud.1766 Words   |  8 PagesIn The Natural by Bernard Malamud, the main character, Roy Hobbs joins the New York Knights with an uncontrollable desire to be the best, at first in baseball, but later on in other aspects of his life. Roy is unable to control his appetites, one of them being for women. Roy is considerably influenced not by stereotypi cal fatherly figures, but rather women, namely Harriet Bird, Memo Paris, and Iris Lemon. While Harriet and Memo are not positive influences, and only wishes ill of Roy, Iris certainlyRead More Symbolism in Bernard Malamuds The Natural Essay2422 Words   |  10 PagesSymbolism in Bernard Malamuds The Natural   Ã‚   The role of symbolism in Bernard Malamuds The Natural is important in helping the reader understand the theme and meaning of the novel as well as the time period in which it took place.   Malamud ¡Ã‚ ¦s use of symbolism defines the character of Roy Hobbs and shows how the events occurring around him affected his decisions and, eventually, his career.   Ã‚   Symbolism in The Natural takes the form of characters, such as women who strongly influenced Roy;Read MoreEssay about The Natural1349 Words   |  6 PagesBernard Malamud was brought up in the mid 1900s, a time period when baseball played a huge role in the lives of many Americans. Americans loved baseball because it gave them a chance to stop working and simply relax while they cheered on their favorite team. It was a time when people played baseball solely for the love of the game and the thrill of hearing the fans cheer for them. Today, however, baseball is much more corrupt, and many athletes are only in it due to their own greed and selfishnessRead MoreLiterary Analysis : The Natural1682 Words   |  7 PagesLiterary Analysis: The Natural Many people believe that material things will bring you peace and happiness. That is not always that case though.Everyone at some point in their life had gone through something that they thought would have a major positive impact on their life, but ultimately, it affected them very negatively. These can include anything from money, to power, even to women. Bernard Malamud explains these example in his book, The Natural, with his character, Roy Hobbs. Roy is the KnightsRead MoreA Jew Of Gentiles By Mark Twain4267 Words   |  18 Pagesaudiences to see the Jews as one of two opposites: heroic survivors or the emotionally debilitated. Both disregard the raw emotion of the Jewish culture, that which Bernard Malamud would later prove universal. Furthermore, the critical tendency to categorize twentieth-century American authors by ethnically-oriented labels has done Malamud a great injustice, as the restrictive â€Å"Jewish writer† label causes audiences to read his works from a na rrow outlook by the nature of the appellation. Admittedly,Read MoreThe Characters Of Arthurian Hero In Bernard Mallamuds The Natural1194 Words   |  5 PagesAmerican novelist and author of The Natural Bernard Malamud once said, â€Å"Without heroes, we are all plain people and dont know how far we can go† (Brainy Quote). The Natural features a young baseball phenom named Roy Hobbs as the story’s hero. His journey to become an aspiring baseball player for the Chicago Cubs is cut short as he meets multiple enemies that bring his dream to a halt. Later in his career, Roy returns to baseball as a player for the New York Knights where he encounters even more