The Base Stealer Essay

Vincent Van Gogh once said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” Comparably, in “The Base Stealer,” the action is someone going through the fundamentals of stealing a base in which mask the overlying metaphor of the small things occuring in a event led to a more important one. Although the literal meaning is interpreted as someone doing small things in order to steal, it gives the idea that many small steps towards a goal in mind leads to a event with fluctuating consequences. Therefore, if the runner is out from stealing it would be considered a negative result whereas being safe is a positive result. With these small acts taking place, it creates suspense since the result has yet to be figured out in which …show more content…
The speaker portrays the poet since it is in the viewpoint of third person omniscient. The speaker seems to have a great deal of interest in baseball and loves to closely examine the small aspects of baseball. As in this case, he captures the moment of developing action and leaving that action in a matter of seconds. To make the inference of the speaker being a bystander in the baseball field, he describes the smallest actions of the players so it does not seem he is affiliated with the team, “Now bouncing tip toe like a dropped ball. (Line 4) The speaker’s intricate viewpoint of the base stealer gives off the idea that he is inexperienced to baseball in which rules out that he is part of the team, such as a coach. All things considered, the speaker, the poet, has great interest in the sport of …show more content…
As it portrays in the poem, a baseball player is going through an internal struggle pulling him into two contrary directions, making sure not to get picked off or get thrown out stealing. As in reality’s process of thinking, people have the choice of going into two opposite directions, both involving consequences, and people have to make the right choices in that instinct so it won't cost them something they want. Furthermore, the theme of opportunity is depicted when the runner is waiting for the moment to steal with his motions described as, “Or a kid skipping rope.” (Line 5) Basically the runner is ready for his moment to happen and for him to take advantage for the chance he has. This correlates with the metaphor of life once again, waiting for that single moment in one’s life and the idea on how one tackles that opportunity in a narrow window of time. If someone never took advantage of an opportunity, he or she would never know what ends up occurring, either involving valuable or unsatisfactory consequences. As for baseball and this poem, one goes through a mental struggle throughout the game whilst taking opportunities that can change the outcome of a game in contradicting examples. However, the poet’s point he is trying to get across is to make the most out of one’s opportunities since one is limited to only a certain