Michael Jordan. Babe Ruth. Tom Brady. Muhammad Ali. Almost everyone who follows American sports idealizes one of these aforementioned athletes. Superstars like these are viewed as “sports heroes”: not only are they perceived as role models for how their respective sports should be played, but they are also considered role models away from the sport as well. However, despite their accolades and high praise, these athletes are not invincible. They do not come without their own flaws as human beings. When all is said and done, they are regular people, just like you and me. In Bernard Malamud’s novel The Natural, the story of baseball player Roy Hobbs’s career is uncovered, and readers are given a glimpse of the drastic difference between society’s
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It is a widely held idea which breeds false reality. However, myths can help formulate individual beliefs and allow for a greater understanding of the experiences of mankind. Bernard Malamud capitalizes on this idea by introducing four major myths into his novel, the first of which was the Horatio Alger Myth. Alger was a 19th century American writer who wrote about a common theme in his books: a young man working hard to escape poverty. The moral of his story, which quickly captured the imagination and attention of Americans at the time, was that the only way to realistically achieve success is through hard work. Roy Hobbs, the main character in The Natural, traced the path of this myth very closely. Hobbs grew up in a tough environment, living in an unstable family situation which forced him to take on more responsibility and work harder to achieve his dreams and desires. In a conversation with a love interest of his (Memo Paris), Hobbs revealed just a few of his childhood …show more content…
This story centers on the concept of temptation. Adam and Eve received instruction to not eat any of the apples from God’s Garden of Eden. However, the serpent tempted them to disobey this command, and both ended up giving in, enduring punishments from God for doing so. This myth is represented well in Malamud’s book. Memo Paris played the role of the serpent as she tried to get Roy, who represented Adam and Eve, to throw the league pennant game so that he would win them substantial amounts of money on a bet. The commissioners of baseball, representing God, have always enforced strict rules on players so that they cannot gamble on a team that they are associated with, for otherwise the sport would become easily corrupt. Violators could be subject to a fate similar to that of Pete Rose, who was banned from the game and stripped of a fair chance at getting into the hall of fame. Originally, Roy stood strong and was completely against gambling on his baseball games. He declined initial offers from Memo and the Judge. However, outside of his baseball career, Roy had one central goal; he wanted to have a relationship with Memo. Attempting to persuade him to change his mind, Memo stated, “There’s one thing you have to understand, Roy, and then maybe you won’t want me. That is that I am afraid to be poor,” (193). The Judge, also acting as a serpent, added that, “You may lose Miss Paris to
It is a widely held idea which breeds false reality. However, myths can help formulate individual beliefs and allow for a greater understanding of the experiences of mankind. Bernard Malamud capitalizes on this idea by introducing four major myths into his novel, the first of which was the Horatio Alger Myth. Alger was a 19th century American writer who wrote about a common theme in his books: a young man working hard to escape poverty. The moral of his story, which quickly captured the imagination and attention of Americans at the time, was that the only way to realistically achieve success is through hard work. Roy Hobbs, the main character in The Natural, traced the path of this myth very closely. Hobbs grew up in a tough environment, living in an unstable family situation which forced him to take on more responsibility and work harder to achieve his dreams and desires. In a conversation with a love interest of his (Memo Paris), Hobbs revealed just a few of his childhood …show more content…
This story centers on the concept of temptation. Adam and Eve received instruction to not eat any of the apples from God’s Garden of Eden. However, the serpent tempted them to disobey this command, and both ended up giving in, enduring punishments from God for doing so. This myth is represented well in Malamud’s book. Memo Paris played the role of the serpent as she tried to get Roy, who represented Adam and Eve, to throw the league pennant game so that he would win them substantial amounts of money on a bet. The commissioners of baseball, representing God, have always enforced strict rules on players so that they cannot gamble on a team that they are associated with, for otherwise the sport would become easily corrupt. Violators could be subject to a fate similar to that of Pete Rose, who was banned from the game and stripped of a fair chance at getting into the hall of fame. Originally, Roy stood strong and was completely against gambling on his baseball games. He declined initial offers from Memo and the Judge. However, outside of his baseball career, Roy had one central goal; he wanted to have a relationship with Memo. Attempting to persuade him to change his mind, Memo stated, “There’s one thing you have to understand, Roy, and then maybe you won’t want me. That is that I am afraid to be poor,” (193). The Judge, also acting as a serpent, added that, “You may lose Miss Paris to