Bernard Malamud

The Natural, authored by Bernard Malamud is an incredible novel that touches the surface on many human emotions such as insecurity, love, and most profoundly pride. Pride and overconfidence are two obstacles the main character Roy Hobbs faces through the entire story. Roy has a dream, though he may be older he feels now it is his time to become the greatest baseball player to have ever existed. Roy has had earlier setbacks and therefore is not allowing anything in his way this time around. He has an attitude in which he not only thinks he is the best, but knows he is the best. Roy Hobbs is a prime example in not only terms of baseball, but with life in general of how pride and a tendency to be overconfident can hinder or even destroy the goals one may wish to accomplish. Overconfidence, in my opinion is the most noticeable flaw of Roy Hobbs. He is never satisfied with the ordinary lifestyle. In my opinion Roy…

Bernard Malamud, the author, presents his readers with several minor characters, each contributes, in some form, towards Manischevitz’s self-discovery and help him gain a better understanding of what it entails to be Jewish. The first character that Malamud introduces into the story, other than Manischevitz, who serves as a guide to the main character’s understanding and exploration of his self-identity, is the angel, Alexander Levine. Levine is rather an unconventional character; he is…

Malamud enjoyed showing that he was Jewish in his writings, but this was for the sake of his nationality and interest in his writings. Malamud used his Jewish background, because he wanted people to know who he was, and wanted people to know that Jewish people are what add drama to stories. The short stories “the Magic Barrel” and “The German Refugee” displays Bernard Malamud 's Jewish culture and background through characters and other parts in the story. According to Bernard Malamud’s the…

At the time The Fixer by Bernard Malamud was written, the Holocaust just subsided and there was lingering prejudice towards the Jewish community. There was also much political corruption in Russia and Malamud exposes the anti-Semitic leaders. In the novel, Malamud discusses the prejudices against Yakov Bok, a Jewish handyman who is accused of murdering a Christian boy during Passover. Bok was accused of murdering the boy due to being Jewish and was charged without any substantial evidence. The…

As far as a Hollywood movie goes, everyone wants the perfect Hollywood ending. To be able to have the perfect Hollywood ending, Hollywood first has to make the perfect character. The perfect character consists of someone who is all around good. They have good intentions, a wholesome background, and despite every awful situation they are put in they come out of it a better person. So what better way to portray the perfect character than by making them great with kids? That was, after all, the…

“We have two lives, Roy, the life we learn with and the life we live with after that. Suffering is what brings us toward happiness” (152). These are the lines from The Natural written by Bernard Malamud, which Iris Lemon says to Roy Hobbs after he told her all the suffer he faced before he becomes a well-known baseball player. The author gives hopes to the readers that Roy will definitely find his happiness towards the end of the novel. However, Bernard Malamud ends the climactic game between…

greatly after a tragic accident and endured great struggle afterward. Ironically, he played an almost immortal character, Superman who was a terrific hero to the world. Much like Christopher Reeve along with his character of Superman, Roy Hobbs of The Natural demonstrated godlike strength and power as he is portrayed as a somewhat humanlike hero. His life becomes filled with adversity that he must overcome and fight back from. With such an incredible burden faced, Roy prevails over the many…

Failed Redemption in The Natural Bernard Malamud’s The Natural is based on the true life of Eddie Waitkus, a Philadelphia Phillies first baseman whose career was nearly destroyed in an unexpected shooting incident. The kick-start to Malamud’s career, this roman a clef portrays Waitkus as Roy Hobbs, a young pitching prodigy who hopes to one day be the best player in league history. However, his aspirations soon go awry after he is shot by a mysterious woman whom he has fallen in love with.…

Hubris Leads to Failure Bernard Malamud’s novel The Natural shows how arrogance can lead to the downfall of even the most talented people. As the novel progresses, the audience sees how characters that display arrogance eventually suffer for their conceited attitudes. Malamud relates his characters to Greek mythological characters by showing how arrogance ultimately causes one to suffer. In the novel, Malamud demonstrates how hubris overcomes Roy Hobbs, the Whammer, Judge Banner, and Gus Sands.…

The Fixer, by Bernard Malamud, starts off with the main character, Yakov Bok, learning about the death of a Russian child. The Jews are blamed for the murder of this child, claiming it to be a ritual murder (or a religious sacrifice). Yakov is frightened, fearing that the police will accuse him because he lives in the city of Kiev, where Jews are forbidden to live in. The book subsequently proceeds to tell the story of Yakov’s life 6-8 months before the timeline in the first chapter. The…