Right before the break on (my) page 213 — this is the final break before the end of the second to last chapter — the text reads: "Vogelman made a bony steeple with his arms. Gazing at the plate, he found his eyes were misty and he couldn't read the catcher's sign. He looked again and saw Roy, in full armor, mounted on a black charger. Vogelman stared hard, his arms held high so as not to balk. Yes, there he was coming at home with a long lance as thick as a young tree. He rubbed his arm across his eyes and keeled over in a dead faint."
This story is filled with people who see Roy for what he is and/or see him for what he wants to be. Which character sees him most clearly and which character is bamboozled by his talent? Go beyond the obvious.
While Iris may be the easy choice for the character that sees Roy most clearly, I would argue that she expects too much of him. Though Roy does ultimately attempt to win the playoff, the fact that he was so ready to sell out for Memo suggests that he is more like Bump than Iris is willing to believe. Instead, Harriet Bird is the one who sees Roy the best, as she is able to recognize early on that he has the unstoppable ambition and talent to be the best, and also sees that he is shallow enough that she can take advantage of him.
ReplyDeleteMax Mercy, on the other hand, is continually baffled by Roy. He had the perfect opportunity to direct Roy's career all along, but could not remember the (incredible) encounter they had once had. The fact that Max finally uncovers Roy's past at the time when Roy should be riding highest is further evidence that they are simply not on the same wavelength.
August:
ReplyDeleteOne character who is “bamboozled” by Roy and his talent is the Knights’ manager, Pop, and a character who sees him clearly is the mysterious man always watching Roy from above, the Judge. Pop believes Roy is the key to unlocking the doors to the World Series. As they approach their playoff game, the game Pop “would give his whole life to win,” he practically begs Roy, “Promise me you will go in there” (Malamud 210), almost as if Pop thinks Roy’s sheer presence will give the Knights the win. Pop also believes that had he played Roy those three weeks in June, “We’da finished the season at least half a dozen games out in front, (Malamud 208). In Pop’s eyes, Roy and his talent are all the Knights need to win; he is the knight in shining armor that will lead his team victory and nothing can stand in his way. As opposed to this vision of an all mighty hero, the Judge sees Roy for what he is, a simple baseball player. No doubt a very talented, outstanding player, but still just another tool the Judge can exploit to make a profit. When he comes to Roy with a proposition, for Roy to help throw the game, it is because he does not want gamblers to “infest our stands,” (Malamud 198). This is because, ultimately, they take away money from the Judge. The Judge does not view Roy as an awe-inspiring hero, but rather a hot-headed young ball player who can make him even richer.
I am going to go out on a limb and say that the judge is the most bamboozled by Roy’s talent. The Judge attempts to pay Roy off to throw the game for the pennant. This heavily implies that the judge believes Roy has the talent as well as the composure to effectively lose the game for his entire team, with the exception of their pitcher. As we see through his streaky nature and when he changes his mind about the fix during the game, Roy is not only not in control of his physical performance, but he is also not in control of his thoughts. Therefore, the judge is clearly not able to see through Roy’s guise.
ReplyDeleteOn the other side, Memo sees Roy most clearly. She seemingly knows exactly how to play Roy so that he continues to dream about her. This would be hard to do without knowing what is going on inside Roy’s head, implying that she is slightly omniscient. Toward the end, then she tells Roy that she always saw through him and that she always saw him as Bump’s murderer, showing that no amount of fantastical talent on Roy’s part could throw a veil over her eyes to make her see him in a better light.
-Compost
I have to agree with August that the Judge sees Roy the most clearly, but that is really only because he is the only one who sees the realistic flaws in Roy (most notably his obsession with winning Memo forever). The other characters, including those "bamboozled by his talent" either gloss over Roy's personal flaws or don't believe he has any. The Judge is not the only person who can see Roy's character (as Roy has blatantly enough demonstrated his arrogance, naivete, and overwhelming ambition), but he is the only one who actively seeks it out to expose it. On the flipside, I believe that Iris is blind to some of Roy's deepest flaws. Yes, she does see his pain and get him to open up about his life like no one else, but she is ignorant to his treatment of her. Her first impression of Roy outside of baseball highlights her blind spot to his physicality, "in street clothes he gained little and lost more, a warrior's quality he showed in his uniform" (Malmoud 146). However, she retains her blindness to his reactions. Despite being fairly blatantly disgusted by the fact that Iris is a mother and grandmother, Iris never notices Roy's disgust. She still has sex with him even when he is rough with her and then writes him a heart to heart letter afterwards in good faith. She trusted him to write back and to do right by their baby when he failed at the first and no one knows about the latter. Iris may be able to expose a part of Roy that many others cannot see, but that part, that exposure, is what blinds her to his biggest flaws regarding her.
ReplyDeleteMemo is the character who in my opinion sees Roy in the clearest light. Yet she is also the least consistent in her support of him. She sees that his moods fluctuate greatly, and that they have an incredible influence over his talent. The one thing she fails to realize fully is her ability to influence his playing ability. At the end of the story she seems to try to manipulate Roy through asking him to accept the judges offer, but she still does not realize that it is her affection for Roy that has the potential to make him play better. Pop however does not see Roy in a clear light, though he sees him more clearly than some (such as the opposition). In the lasst game Pop is blinded by the hope that Roy will pull through, and puts aside his reservations about Roy when he sends him up to bat. Here Roy fails and Pop loses his chance at peace and redemption.
ReplyDeleteAdam Sterry
DeleteI think that Iris is the one most bamboozled by Roy's talent. Though never having once spoken to him or having met him, she finds it "perfectly natural" to be waiting for him after the game, even though it was only because "he had been in her mind so often in the past month she could not conceive of him as a stranger" (Malamud 143). Iris has only seen him while he is playing baseball, and believes in only the hero in him, without ever having faced him in reality, when he loses some of his power outside of his baseball uniform. She brushes aside his behavior when he is truly awful to her at the lake, and chooses to see only the good in Roy. Additionally, Iris trusts him completely to take care of her and their baby, despite his never giving any indication he would be capable of doing so, or giving any signs he is the sort of person that would want to. Iris falls in love with his heroism in baseball, but in doing so fails to see his greatest flaws.
ReplyDeleteI think the Judge sees Roy most clearly out of all the characters. He understands that Roy is just another baseball player that can be exploited, despite his talent. He sees past Roy’s bluster about deserving a pay raise (though he does), to the fact that Roy is desperate for money, a fact that the Judge again uses to his advantage. The Judge also sees very easily, and realistically, how unsuccessful Roy’s infatuation with Memo is. He grasps the fact that Roy will never be able to have her, a fact that Roy himself was unable to see for months.
I think Iris sees Roy the most clearly, because on their trip to the lake, she is struck by how normal Roy is, and how his appearence is not all that that it was made out to be. She was able to recognize him for what he says, a normal man with flaws like everyone else, if not even more flaws than the average person. She was able to cure him of his slump by knowing that his confidence could be so easily boosted by just a single person standing up in the crowds cheering for him, because she was the only one who could read Roy's emotions clearly and be able to tell what he needed. There are many characters bamboozled by his talent, namely Memo. She pictures him exactly as Bump, when in fact they could not be more different. Although they may appear similiar at first glance, Roy has gone through much more suffering than Bump had, and as a result was a completely different person. Bump was exceedingly cheerful with regards to the game, however Roy considered baseball "a duty," something that had to be done for whatever inner motive he possesses. It is impossible for Memo to completely distinguish the two even when they are so very different, showing her lack of understanding of Roy.
ReplyDelete-Matt Feder
DeleteI think Memo is the one that is most bamboozled by Roy’s talent from the fact that she sees Bump in Roy. When Roy was a media sensation, Memo was suddenly attracted to him, as everything about Roy reminded her of Bump. However, Roy and Bump are different people from the fact that Roy considers baseball as a job and “tries to hit the ball,” while Bump plays for amusement, according to Memo. Sadly Memo could only find one distinction and continues to portray Roy and Bump as the same person.
ReplyDeleteI think the Judge sees Roy most clearly because he can tell when a baseball player is in it for the money or for the love of the game. The Judge interacts with a bunch of players and they share the same desire, money. He understands that a baseball player can be exploited, and when Roy proclaims that he deserves more money, he can see very easily that Roy is no different from any other player. The Judge is not like any other person, he knows what baseball players are capable of doing with a lot of money, regardless that he is also cheap.