"Baseball is about going home ... and how hard it is to get there, and how driven is our need." — A. Bartlett Giamatti
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Natural: Post #4
In what ways are the "villains" unable to see Roy clearly? And what might Malamud be suggesting in the blindness of the villains? Be specific and reference the text.
I think there are two main temptations that distract Roy's talent and detract from his ability to be a great baseball player. The first is sex. We have seen Roy fall for a number of ladies, the most recent being Memo, and lose his focus on the game. Roy has a knack for obsessing over females that are neither interested in him nor likely to be a positive force in his career or life. As the novel progresses, I predict that we will see Roy's sexual temptations hinder him further. The second temptation is fame. Though in some ways Roy is presented as being less arrogant than Bump and the Whammer, he has their same lust for recognition and glory. Although this desire can be a motivator to play better, it is a problem for Roy because he cares more about being famous than about being a good player. This is demonstrated when he refuses to bunt, explaining that bunting is no good for his record. Here, we clearly see fame distracting Roy's talent.
As Nate said, two of Roy's distractions are the ladies and his newfound fame. I think there's a third component, though, one closely linked to both of those, and that's his media coverage. Roy is practically obsessed with what sportswriters think of him. He carefully examines and reads every article written about him, even remembers the layout of the sports page Memo is reading on page 84. That alone might make the distraction fame, but Roy shows it to go deeper than that when he goes to the Judge. Even though Roy felt the pressure for money before, it is only after a columnist writes that Roy deserves a higher salary that Roy decides to go the Judge. Roy won't even tell the journalists anything about his life, but still allows some writer he has never met before to make up his mind about a pretty big decision for a rookie. That shows how much he not only likes the coverage, but also how much attention he pays to it. If Roy is really going to be a star, the team's talented Knight in shining armor, he has to listen to himself and make his own decisions.
I think that women are definitely a distraction for Roy. First with Harriet, who put back his career 15 years and now with Memo. Another distraction is Roy wanting to be the best, to accomplish all that he can in life and take advantage of every opportunity. On page 85, these two notions are combined. "He was gnawed by a nagging impatience-so much more to do, so much of the world to win for himself. He felt he had nothing of value yet to show for what he was accomplishing, and in his dreams he still sped over endless miles of monotonous rail toward something he desperately wanted. Memo, he sighed." He is not satisfied with what he has which takes away from his talent. In a way, his ambition is a distraction.
Adela raises an important point about how woman serve as Roy's biggest distraction. This is evident by the way Malamud describes his thoughts about Harriet and later Memo. Another factor inhibiting Roy's ability to become one of the greats, as he aspires to be, is his cockiness. He refuses to bunt which raises questions about his commitment to the team. Malamud make it evident that the teams thinks Roy is only about getting his stats and not about winning. His refusal to do one of the more fundamental parts of the game that lead to victory signifies his selfishness inhibiting him from achieving his goals.
Everyone before has touched on the main points, but I think that money is another extremely important and influential distraction for Roy. As demonstrated in Roy's conversation with Harriet, Roy has given significant thought to "the bucks" that will come along with his career as a professional ball player. In this most recent chapter, Roy is also focused on the economic incentive to continue playing for the Knights. Roy becomes irate when he is unable to reach an agreeable new contract with the Judge, showing his obsession with money and his view of baseball as a profession, rather than a passion. With his old age, Roy's main concern is financial as he knows that he does not have too many years left in the game.
The villains of the story all have something that prevents them from seeing Roy clearly. I believe that the definition of a "villain" in this story are people whom Roy has to win over. People who doubt his ability, or get in the way of his complete success and happiness. It is said about Memo, whose affections Roy is determined to win, that "whenever she turned she cried, the world was wet" (Malamud 80). Her vision of Roy is literally obstructed by her tears for the man whom Roy replaced, and whose death Roy was blamed by some people for. Gus, who takes two of the things Roy treasures most: the woman he wants and his money, has a glass eye, and thus cannot see as well as most people. The Judge, besides being in half darkness, is described as "[blowing] out a smelly cloud of yellow smoke that hid his face a full minute" (Malamud 90). The Judge, whom I see as the main villain (as of right now), cannot see Roy clearly because of these two things.
I believe that Malamud is hinting that the villains cannot correctly judge (Judge: get it?) Roy's character, and despite him trying his hardest, his attempts at gaining their trust seem to be futile.
I agree with all the above about the distractions from Roy's talent: cockiness, women, and desire for fame. Another factor that I think has a huge impact is his insecurities. His insecurity is linked with women, his ego, and desire for fame, but overall lack of self assurance seems to be what manifests itself the most in many of his negative thought processes. Roy is devastated by the fact that he still hears fans cheering for Bump rather than him, and is struggling with the idea of following in Bump's footsteps. He wants his fame to be entirely his own, and not a replacement for Bump's. The same goes for his feelings for Memo, he wants Memo to see that he could replace Bump, but at the same time does not want to be connected to him. Roy obsesses over these concerns that he has, something that gets in the way of his talent.
Roy is distracted from Baseball by girls. He falls victim to wanting to always impress girls and make himself the star in front on them. It really bothers him when other men are able to date gorgeous women and he is not. This is his biggest distraction. He wants to find a really attractive girl for himself and it really annoys him when another man is able to do things for a women that he could see himself with, such as Gus with Memo. And the Whammer and Harriet Bird in the beginning of the novel. Roy will continue to fall victim to this distraction until he finds a girl for himself
The main distraction for Roy is girls. It is clear that Roy has a weakness when it comes to controlling his thoughts about girls. He continues to pursue any girl he finds attractive, even if the girls has absolutely no interest, because he convinces himself that anything happening between the him and the girl is possible. I think Roy is so susceptible to being seduced because he views it as a competition to bring home the hottest girl. As for the argument that Roy's desire for fame is a distraction, I believe thats false. Personally I think Roy's desire for fame is what makes him such a great ballplayer and what gives him motivation to preform on the field.
I believe that there are many ways that the villains are not able to see clearly. Other than in the literal sense with the three villains introduced so far (as Trevor said), there is one main way that the villains cannot see Roy. I think that this main way is the fact that the villains can never really predict what Roy is going to do next. His unpredictability is quite present in this chapter, first Roy rips up the bill that the Judge gave him, then in the Pot of Fire, "...He left the table and disappeared...'What's going on?' Max said." This is when Roy does a number of spectacular magic tricks that impress the crowd in the club, and Memo. Another thing mentioned above is the fact that Roy always wants to win over his villains. I think that this will play a large role throughout the story, and will end up getting him in trouble.
Although I think everyone prior to me has really hit the nail on the head about women distracting Roy’s talent, I think that Roy’s newfound sense of greed and entitlement is the key inhibitor of Roy’s talent. One old myth of baseball that we also saw in “Shoeless Joe” is that baseball players take the field for their pure ‘love of the game’ and not for monetary gains. However, this myth is shattered when Roy begins to feel that he deserves more money for the way he has been crushing the ball. The Judge has an interesting story when discussing Roy’s contract situation with Roy, saying that “Pop began to rent to place to miniature auto races, meetings, (etc.)… making all sorts of money for himself, while things necessary to the team were neglected” (92). This story is very connected to Roy’s approach to baseball. Instead of keeping his focus on hitting well and winning games with the Knights, Roy is now disgruntled over making money. Roy does not remember that he plays baseball to be the greatest ballplayer ever and not necessarily the wealthiest.
I think the biggest distraction for Roy in this book so far has been the ladies. It is evident from the beginning of the book as he tries to seduce the woman from the train and ends up being shot. it also shows up consistently in his play, as he tries to impress the ladies. When he is introduced to girls he automatically thinks that they are interested in him when realistically this is usually not the case. This just brings it back to his childness that he exhibited at the beginning of the book. Roy needs to learn to recognize that although he may believe so, the world does not revolve around him, and not everyone will be interested in the things he does. Nevertheless, the biggest distraction will continue to be women until Roy grows out of his youthful self and into a more adult being.
The biggest distraction for Roy Hobbs has been his greed. It is obvious that Roy is not playing like a rookie but that of an all star, but in he should keep striving to play even better. Playing baseball at an exceptional level should be because Toy truly loves to play baseball and not to make more money. Today, money has tarnished baseball because of the enormous amounts of money spent on bal players. Roy is perpetuating this modern baseball mentality by asking for more money. Roy should focus on maintaining this level of baseball or else this greed will lead him to the same situation he faced 15 years ago.
The villains are all blind to Roy's character and only want to use him for their own benefit. One of Roy's enemies is Max Mercy, who just wants to dig up dirt on Roy for a good newspaper story. Another is Memo who is blind to Roy as someone who really cares for her, but hangs on to the memory Bump who cheated on her. On page 82 Malamud writes, "Each morning when she came out of the elevator he would look up at her as she walked by on her high heels, although she never seemed to see him". Memo is blind to Roy's affection for her. The villains of "The Natural" are blind to the fact that Roy is a human being with feelings.
In response to the first of the two prompts: Villains The villains of the story all try to make Roy into something that he is not, thereby blinding themselves to the person he really is. One of the villains in the story is the press: the press turns Roy into to a hero when he does well, but makes him a loser and a monster when he plays poorly. Max Mercy, specifically, is convinced that Roy is hiding something, and goes out of his way to make Roy seem terrible when Roy does not give Mercy what he wants. The Judge, another villain, is literally and figuratively unable to see Roy clearly: his office is literally hazy with cigar smoke, and his figurative blindness causes him to objectify Roy as a money making machine rather than a human ball player. One more major villain in the story is Memo. Memo is completely blind to the utter devotion that Roy has to her, and the unconditional love he feels for her despite her continually breaking his heart with her rejection. She sees him as the complete opposite of what he really is: a killer - she silently blames Roy for Bump's death. The villains seem to all at once idolise and resent Roy for qualities that they bestow upon him, when, in actuality, they really have no idea who he is at all.
I think there are two main temptations that distract Roy's talent and detract from his ability to be a great baseball player. The first is sex. We have seen Roy fall for a number of ladies, the most recent being Memo, and lose his focus on the game. Roy has a knack for obsessing over females that are neither interested in him nor likely to be a positive force in his career or life. As the novel progresses, I predict that we will see Roy's sexual temptations hinder him further.
ReplyDeleteThe second temptation is fame. Though in some ways Roy is presented as being less arrogant than Bump and the Whammer, he has their same lust for recognition and glory. Although this desire can be a motivator to play better, it is a problem for Roy because he cares more about being famous than about being a good player. This is demonstrated when he refuses to bunt, explaining that bunting is no good for his record. Here, we clearly see fame distracting Roy's talent.
As Nate said, two of Roy's distractions are the ladies and his newfound fame. I think there's a third component, though, one closely linked to both of those, and that's his media coverage. Roy is practically obsessed with what sportswriters think of him. He carefully examines and reads every article written about him, even remembers the layout of the sports page Memo is reading on page 84. That alone might make the distraction fame, but Roy shows it to go deeper than that when he goes to the Judge. Even though Roy felt the pressure for money before, it is only after a columnist writes that Roy deserves a higher salary that Roy decides to go the Judge. Roy won't even tell the journalists anything about his life, but still allows some writer he has never met before to make up his mind about a pretty big decision for a rookie. That shows how much he not only likes the coverage, but also how much attention he pays to it. If Roy is really going to be a star, the team's talented Knight in shining armor, he has to listen to himself and make his own decisions.
ReplyDeleteI think that women are definitely a distraction for Roy. First with Harriet, who put back his career 15 years and now with Memo. Another distraction is Roy wanting to be the best, to accomplish all that he can in life and take advantage of every opportunity. On page 85, these two notions are combined. "He was gnawed by a nagging impatience-so much more to do, so much of the world to win for himself. He felt he had nothing of value yet to show for what he was accomplishing, and in his dreams he still sped over endless miles of monotonous rail toward something he desperately wanted. Memo, he sighed."
ReplyDeleteHe is not satisfied with what he has which takes away from his talent. In a way, his ambition is a distraction.
Adela raises an important point about how woman serve as Roy's biggest distraction. This is evident by the way Malamud describes his thoughts about Harriet and later Memo. Another factor inhibiting Roy's ability to become one of the greats, as he aspires to be, is his cockiness. He refuses to bunt which raises questions about his commitment to the team. Malamud make it evident that the teams thinks Roy is only about getting his stats and not about winning. His refusal to do one of the more fundamental parts of the game that lead to victory signifies his selfishness inhibiting him from achieving his goals.
ReplyDeleteEveryone before has touched on the main points, but I think that money is another extremely important and influential distraction for Roy. As demonstrated in Roy's conversation with Harriet, Roy has given significant thought to "the bucks" that will come along with his career as a professional ball player. In this most recent chapter, Roy is also focused on the economic incentive to continue playing for the Knights. Roy becomes irate when he is unable to reach an agreeable new contract with the Judge, showing his obsession with money and his view of baseball as a profession, rather than a passion. With his old age, Roy's main concern is financial as he knows that he does not have too many years left in the game.
ReplyDeleteThe villains of the story all have something that prevents them from seeing Roy clearly. I believe that the definition of a "villain" in this story are people whom Roy has to win over. People who doubt his ability, or get in the way of his complete success and happiness. It is said about Memo, whose affections Roy is determined to win, that "whenever she turned she cried, the world was wet" (Malamud 80). Her vision of Roy is literally obstructed by her tears for the man whom Roy replaced, and whose death Roy was blamed by some people for. Gus, who takes two of the things Roy treasures most: the woman he wants and his money, has a glass eye, and thus cannot see as well as most people. The Judge, besides being in half darkness, is described as "[blowing] out a smelly cloud of yellow smoke that hid his face a full minute" (Malamud 90). The Judge, whom I see as the main villain (as of right now), cannot see Roy clearly because of these two things.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Malamud is hinting that the villains cannot correctly judge (Judge: get it?) Roy's character, and despite him trying his hardest, his attempts at gaining their trust seem to be futile.
I agree with all the above about the distractions from Roy's talent: cockiness, women, and desire for fame. Another factor that I think has a huge impact is his insecurities. His insecurity is linked with women, his ego, and desire for fame, but overall lack of self assurance seems to be what manifests itself the most in many of his negative thought processes. Roy is devastated by the fact that he still hears fans cheering for Bump rather than him, and is struggling with the idea of following in Bump's footsteps. He wants his fame to be entirely his own, and not a replacement for Bump's. The same goes for his feelings for Memo, he wants Memo to see that he could replace Bump, but at the same time does not want to be connected to him. Roy obsesses over these concerns that he has, something that gets in the way of his talent.
ReplyDeleteRoy is distracted from Baseball by girls. He falls victim to wanting to always impress girls and make himself the star in front on them. It really bothers him when other men are able to date gorgeous women and he is not. This is his biggest distraction. He wants to find a really attractive girl for himself and it really annoys him when another man is able to do things for a women that he could see himself with, such as Gus with Memo. And the Whammer and Harriet Bird in the beginning of the novel. Roy will continue to fall victim to this distraction until he finds a girl for himself
ReplyDeleteThe main distraction for Roy is girls. It is clear that Roy has a weakness when it comes to controlling his thoughts about girls. He continues to pursue any girl he finds attractive, even if the girls has absolutely no interest, because he convinces himself that anything happening between the him and the girl is possible. I think Roy is so susceptible to being seduced because he views it as a competition to bring home the hottest girl.
ReplyDeleteAs for the argument that Roy's desire for fame is a distraction, I believe thats false. Personally I think Roy's desire for fame is what makes him such a great ballplayer and what gives him motivation to preform on the field.
I believe that there are many ways that the villains are not able to see clearly. Other than in the literal sense with the three villains introduced so far (as Trevor said), there is one main way that the villains cannot see Roy. I think that this main way is the fact that the villains can never really predict what Roy is going to do next. His unpredictability is quite present in this chapter, first Roy rips up the bill that the Judge gave him, then in the Pot of Fire, "...He left the table and disappeared...'What's going on?' Max said." This is when Roy does a number of spectacular magic tricks that impress the crowd in the club, and Memo. Another thing mentioned above is the fact that Roy always wants to win over his villains. I think that this will play a large role throughout the story, and will end up getting him in trouble.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think everyone prior to me has really hit the nail on the head about women distracting Roy’s talent, I think that Roy’s newfound sense of greed and entitlement is the key inhibitor of Roy’s talent. One old myth of baseball that we also saw in “Shoeless Joe” is that baseball players take the field for their pure ‘love of the game’ and not for monetary gains. However, this myth is shattered when Roy begins to feel that he deserves more money for the way he has been crushing the ball. The Judge has an interesting story when discussing Roy’s contract situation with Roy, saying that “Pop began to rent to place to miniature auto races, meetings, (etc.)… making all sorts of money for himself, while things necessary to the team were neglected” (92). This story is very connected to Roy’s approach to baseball. Instead of keeping his focus on hitting well and winning games with the Knights, Roy is now disgruntled over making money. Roy does not remember that he plays baseball to be the greatest ballplayer ever and not necessarily the wealthiest.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest distraction for Roy in this book so far has been the ladies. It is evident from the beginning of the book as he tries to seduce the woman from the train and ends up being shot. it also shows up consistently in his play, as he tries to impress the ladies. When he is introduced to girls he automatically thinks that they are interested in him when realistically this is usually not the case. This just brings it back to his childness that he exhibited at the beginning of the book. Roy needs to learn to recognize that although he may believe so, the world does not revolve around him, and not everyone will be interested in the things he does. Nevertheless, the biggest distraction will continue to be women until Roy grows out of his youthful self and into a more adult being.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest distraction for Roy Hobbs has been his greed. It is obvious that Roy is not playing like a rookie but that of an all star, but in he should keep striving to play even better. Playing baseball at an exceptional level should be because Toy truly loves to play baseball and not to make more money. Today, money has tarnished baseball because of the enormous amounts of money spent on bal players. Roy is perpetuating this modern baseball mentality by asking for more money. Roy should focus on maintaining this level of baseball or else this greed will lead him to the same situation he faced 15 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe villains are all blind to Roy's character and only want to use him for their own benefit. One of Roy's enemies is Max Mercy, who just wants to dig up dirt on Roy for a good newspaper story. Another is Memo who is blind to Roy as someone who really cares for her, but hangs on to the memory Bump who cheated on her. On page 82 Malamud writes, "Each morning when she came out of the elevator he would look up at her as she walked by on her high heels, although she never seemed to see him". Memo is blind to Roy's affection for her. The villains of "The Natural" are blind to the fact that Roy is a human being with feelings.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the first of the two prompts: Villains
ReplyDeleteThe villains of the story all try to make Roy into something that he is not, thereby blinding themselves to the person he really is. One of the villains in the story is the press: the press turns Roy into to a hero when he does well, but makes him a loser and a monster when he plays poorly. Max Mercy, specifically, is convinced that Roy is hiding something, and goes out of his way to make Roy seem terrible when Roy does not give Mercy what he wants. The Judge, another villain, is literally and figuratively unable to see Roy clearly: his office is literally hazy with cigar smoke, and his figurative blindness causes him to objectify Roy as a money making machine rather than a human ball player. One more major villain in the story is Memo. Memo is completely blind to the utter devotion that Roy has to her, and the unconditional love he feels for her despite her continually breaking his heart with her rejection. She sees him as the complete opposite of what he really is: a killer - she silently blames Roy for Bump's death. The villains seem to all at once idolise and resent Roy for qualities that they bestow upon him, when, in actuality, they really have no idea who he is at all.