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Influences of sport in society
The influence of sports on society
Influences of sport in society
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Bernard 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 selfishness. This strong desire for money stems from some important players in the past, such as Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio, who were outstanding athletes and grew very overconfident in their abilities. They became so confident that they began to demand more money than the other players. Roy Hobbs, the protagonist in The Natural by Bernard Malamud, is a fictional ballplayer based on these legends. His ability to play the game is nearly super human in that he is able to lead a team to victory almost single handedly. However, Roy is only in the game to make a name for himself and to break records. He would rather build a reputation as the greatest player in the game than win games for his team. In the introduction to the novel, written by Kevin Baker, he is described as: “Greedy, ruthless, and preoccupied with making the money he believes his talent entitles him to make” (Baker, xii). Roy Hobbs is a prime example of a man whose pride and self confidence eventually lead to his downfall.
Roy Hobbs is a very self confident baseball player who is so sure of his abilities that he almost gives up a chance of playing in the majors. His confidence is evident throughout the novel at various times and in various situations. For example, when Po...
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...eed any help from anyone, and he quickly rises to superstardom in the eyes of many baseball fans.
Roy Hobbs was an extremely greedy and conceited man. However, when closely examined, he had a caring, kindhearted side as well. In the story, Roy does everything in his power to save a young boy who is dying in the hospital. His efforts are displayed when Malamud says: “He had been thinking of him on and off and was anxious to do something for him” (Malamud, 136). Roy does not want him to die, so he tries his hardest and eventually hits a home run for the boy. Nonetheless, Roy’s greed takes over in the end, and he is forced to live with the consequences. At the end, when a young boy asks him if he had really thrown the game, he is only able to weep in response. Thus, his downfall was brought about by his major flaws: greed, selfishness, and overconfidence.
Babe Ruth is still a very well-known person in history today, even almost one-hundred years later. He did not only change the way people viewed negro baseball leagues, but he also gained a large reputation for his ability to play baseball, obviously due to his amazing abilities. Ruth’s ability to play was almost impossibly good, in fact, he was even titled “athlete of the century” for his ability. With that ability and power that he had once he won, he would become a
Hutch, the main character of The Big Field, has played baseball all of his life. He has always played shortstop, the same position that his father dreamed of playing as a professional. “Hutch, had always thought of himself as the captain of any infield he’d ever been a part of” (Lupica 1). Hutch finds himself being demoted to second base because there is another player, Darryl, on his new team that is expected to go pro and also plays shortstop. Hutch struggles because he does not want to play second base and his father does not support him because he does not want baseball to break Hutch’s dreams like it did his own. Hutch is betrayed by his father and Darryl when he finds them practicing together. Hutch has to learn to adjust and eventually becomes friends with Darryl, the up and coming shortstop. He understands that if he wants to win, then he needs to work together with Darryl. His father also comes around and finally gives Hutch his approval. Students should read this book in a high school English classroom because it demonstrates how relationships can be difficult, but teamwork can help to solve many issues.
“If you build it, he will come” (Kinsella 1). These words of an announcer jump start a struggle for Ray Kinsella to ease the tragic life of Shoeless Joe Jackson. Ray hears a voice of an announcer which leads him to build a baseball field that brings Shoeless Joe Jackson onto the field. However, this field puts his family on the verge of bankruptcy which is just one of the struggles Ray Kinsella is presented in his life. Shoeless Joe Jackson is no stranger to having no money, as he was only making a measly $1.25 as a kid struggling to support his family. He never attended school and was illiterate throughout his entire life. The struggle is completely the same with Ray Kinsella growing up, as he is forced into baseball, which ultimately makes him run away from home. Ray’s hate is Joes love. Joe loves baseball and makes it to the major leagues, but it doesn’t last. Joe’s career is cut short due to the fact he is accused of throwing the World Series, and banned from baseball forever. Rays’s father would have loved it if his son made it to the major leagues because he thought Ray had the potential and talent. However, his only dream was simple, he wanted to play a game of catch with his son, unfortunately, he passed away and he never got to see his son after he ran away. Shoeless Joe Jackson’s death wasn’t any better, as he died guilty of throwing the World Series which was the biggest sports tragedy to date. Tragedies are not uncommon phenomena, Ray Kinsella and Shoeless Joe Jackson have the unfortunate luck to go through a struggle fulfilled and uphill battle in what is suppose to be a wonderful thing, life.
The novel The Natural is written by Bernard Malamud. Bernard was a famous author mainly known for writing short stories and novels. He was considered one of the great American Jewish authors of the 20th century. Bernard was born in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants and he had a brother named Eugene. Unfortunately, Malamud entered his adolescence when the Great Depression began. The Natural is one of his more famous books, which was written in 1952. This novel is about a baseball prodigy named Roy Hobbs. He has a bat that he made himself, which he calls Wonderboy. Roy plans to join the major leagues and break all the records. However, his plans are put on hold when a woman he meets shoots. After fifteen years after the tragedy Roy goes back to baseball and is drafted to the New York Knights. Along his journey to becoming a superstar he is distracted from his goal by the women in his life. The Natural is very much similar to the mythological story of Perceval, the Story of the Holy Grail. Roy Hobbs is comparable to Perceval, Pop Fisher to the Fisher King and the pennant to the Holy Grail.
Symbolism in The Natural takes the form of characters, such as women who strongly influenced Roy; historical events, such as the infamous 1919 World Series scandal; and even Greek and Roman mythology. All forms of symbolism used by Malamud are woven into the life and career of Roy Hobbs.
America’s pastime has been complicated in the last couple centuries, and integration has been a big key in the game of baseball. Like most of America in the 1940’s, baseball was segregated, with whites playing in the Major League system and African-Americans playing in the Negro Leagues. There were many factors that made whites and blacks come together, including World War II. Integration caused many downs in the time period, but as baseball grew and grew it was one of the greatest accomplishments in the history. It was hard to find the right black man to start this, they needed a man with baseball abilities and a man who didn’t need to fight back.
Roy Hobbs was the best baseball player there ever was. He was a natural to the game. He could hit anything, catch anything and pitch to whoever he wanted and get the ball to do what he wanted it to. In the pre-game Roy is given the chance to pitch against one of the greatest players of the game, the Whammer. “The third ball slithered at the batter like a meteor…though he willed to destroy the sound he heard a gong bong and realized with sadness that the ball he had expected to hit had long since been part of the past; and though Max could not cough the fatal word out of his throat, the Whammer understood he was, in the truest sense of it, out”(23). Most of the evidence that Roy is a natural comes from the rest of the book. Here are some examples. “Fowler flung a stiff wrist knuckler that hung in the air with out spin before it took a sudden dip, but Roy scooped it up with the stick and lifted it twenty rows up into the center field stands”(30). “Wonder boy flashed in the sun. It caught the sphere where it was biggest. A noise like a twenty-one gun salute cracked the sky. There was a straining, ripping sound and a few drops of rain spattered to the ground. The ball screamed toward the pitcher and seemed suddenly to dive down at his feet. He grabbed it to throw to first and realized to his horror that he held only the cover”(70).
Throughout the history of America’s pastime, baseball has continually battled scandals and controversies. From the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal to the current steroid debate, baseball has lived in a century of turmoil. While many of these scandals affected multiple players and brought shame to teams, none have affected a single player more than the 1980’s Pete Rose betting scandal. Aside from the public humiliation he brought his family and the Cincinnati Reds, nothing has done more to hurt Pete Rose than his lifetime ban from baseball making him ineligible for hall of fame. While many are for and against putting Pete Rose in the hall of fame, the four ethical theories, Kantianism, Utilitarianism, Egoism, and Ethical Realism, each have their own unique answer to the question. Through Kantianism Pete Rose should be inducted into the hall of fame, while Egoism, Utilitarianism and Ethical Realism all support the lifetime ban.
In the novel “The Natural” written by Bernard Malamud Roy Hobbs is a man that is terrible with making good decisions for himself as well as learning from his mistakes. In the film version of the movie directed by Barry Levinson, the viewer is exposed to a Roy Hobbs that is the exact opposite. Movie Roy shows the viewer how a mature professional baseball player is supposed to handle himself and how to go about life. Overall the two differences in character are very profound and speak volume to the differences that movies and books have. Roy Hobbs is a different character in the book and in the movie and it shows by his decision making, rational responses and how he handles certain situations.
Roy’s task is to identify himself so that he may reassume his rightful position as the best baseball player in the game. He earned the position the first time when he struck out the Whammer. After returning to baseball, Roy must again prove himself as the best. First, Roy must earn the respect from his coach and the players before he can attempt to make a name for himself. Once that is accomplished by showing off his hitting talents, Roy Hobbs easily becomes a household name. It takes awhile, but he does become the persistent front-page story.
Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding focuses on Henry, a small town boy that learns the value of life through the sport of baseball. Henry comes from humble beginnings of small town America, but suffers from a case of perfectionism – he will not stop short of achieving total perfection and this will eventually lead to his demise. He meets Mike Schwartz, a college baseball player that convinces him that college baseball is his future. Henry’s curiosity gets the best of him as he stumbles into the dark, cutthroat, and competitive world of college athletics. Once he steps foot in this world, Henry’s hunger for perfection is amplified. He sees the real world of athletics and
Roy Hobbs character in “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud is shown a guy of his dream. Roy Hobbs dream was to become a popular baseball player that one day he will break all the records and be "the greatest in the game." Hobbs biggest influence w...
"He was like a hunter stalking a bear, a whale, or maybe the sight of a single fleeing star the way he went after that ball (Malamud, 162)." Since he is young, Roy Hobbs has great ability and amazing talent in baseball. However, just like a tragic hero in Greek myth, those ones who fight for their honor, but fail because of their hubris or the desire of being such immortal and an aspects of not accepting the truth and reality, Roy Hobbs' hubris, ambition and a desire for fame and his fortune really tell that he is a tragic hero.
This game of a stick and ball has captivated the United States during good and bad times. In either time most of us today can remember stories of players from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. These are legendary figures in the sport of baseball that have are celebrated as hero’s and in scandal, i...
Malamud symbolized his main character Roy Hobbs as Sir Perceval knight, who comes to Waste Land to deliver the Holy Grail and rescue Pop Fisher, the Fisher King of the novel. On the other hand, the team pennant is the redemption of Pop, and the quest that Roy was assigned to fulfill.... ... middle of paper ... ... Affected by World War II, they found a new direction and their works highlighted the inevitability of death and the circle of life. In the darkness, there is always the existence of a hero who will rescue and give hope.