The Natural Character Analysis

In the Novel The Natural by Bernard Malamud, the main character of the story is a fifteen year old boy named Roy Hobbs, who is very talented in Baseball. He has an incredible pitching arm and a very powerful hit when it comes to batting. Roy believed that he was on the path to fulfilling his dream considering that he had a scout who got him a private tryout with the Chicago Cubs. Unfortunately, there were many obstacles that came across his way which prevented him from achieving his dream of becoming the greatest player in the game. Roy had to face many difficulties such as getting shot, fitting into his new team, falling into a slump, and having to chose between his career or his life. In spite of these hardships throughout his life, Roy still overcame these obstacles due to his determination and passion for the game.

The first hitch that Roy bumps into in the pre-game chapter of the book is the death of Sam Sampson, Roy’s scout who is mostly represented as a father figure towards him. He knew what he had to do, which was to still attend the Chicago Cubs tryout and make Sam proud. However, Roy had no one to turn to for advice or someone to take of him because he was only fifteen years old at that time. It was hard for him to get over Sam’s death considering that it was his fault that he died, but later he was able to move on with his life. Throughout the book, most of the women that Roy interacts with end up having a negative impact towards his life and his career. That’s where Harriet Bird comes in because Roy had been attracted to her ever since she set foot on the train. Due to his crush on harrit, he was unable to realize that she was a killer and that he was her next target. Although there was no possible way that Roy could of figured that out, he still could have just stayed focus on his career instead of chasing after girls. As a result Roy was shot by Harriet when she invited him into her room. One’s first thought would be that Roy’s dream to become the best player in the league is over and that he will never obtain the career he had always wanted. In Spite of him getting shot in the stomach, he never gave up on his dream what so ever, therefore fifteen years later the author states that Roy is back in the game.What is extremely unfortunate for Roy is that his struggles don’t end there, in fact they get a little more complicated. The Second hardship that Roy came across was being able to fit in with his new team and having to tolerate all of the hazing done upon him by his fellow teammates, specifically Bump Bailey. …show more content…
The first prank that Bump pulled on roy was that he got Roy to accidentally sleep with his girlfriend Memo. Although it wasn’t much of a prank because Roy actually enjoyed sleeping with Memo. Later on during practice Bump and some of the other guys drenched his uniform in his bassoon case, which got Roy very irated. He didn’t let that interfere with his motive because he didn’t come to New York to make friends, he came to play ball. In practice he always gave one hundred percent of effort and that made his teammates have more respect towards him because he was an incredible baseball player. Roy amazing performances on the field influenced Bump, the most boastful player on the team, to begin putting more effort into the games and during practice. Thus, the knights began to improve skill wise, as a team and they also started to gain multiple victories against other baseball teams in the league. Nevertheless, he had more trouble to come across. In addition to having to fit in and getting shot, Roy was required to overwhelm the slump that he was going through in order to revive the team’s winning streak. His slump began right after his bad “date” with Memo. The that he had been rejected by Memo had a major effect on Roy’s ability to