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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, twentieth century American novelist Bernard Malamud addresses the human condition as man attempts to achieve moral perfection. As a result of his upbringing, Malamud’s work shows a regard for the plight of ordinary men, and incorporates the theme of moral wisdom gained through suffering. In The Natural, Roy Hobbes realizes that through suffering, man learns to become selfless. Creating a story parallel to Arthurian legend, Malamud reveals the hero as possessing numerous flaws, the most destructive of which being his pride-filled heart.
Malamud’s novels constantly incorporate a hero, but as with every hero, they each possess a tragic flaw. ... The plot of The Natural concerns a character who desires the title of the greatest baseball player ever, and who possesses extremely unique heroic qualities. ... On the other hand, while The Natural concerns the trials of a professional baseball player, the game of baseball “[…] is only the background from which Malamud draws his real subject: the plight of the mythic hero in the modern world” (Hershinow, 16). The Natural portrays baseball as a symbolic representation of American values. Malamud presents the reader with more than just a view of the every day occurrences in the life of a professional baseball player. ... Malamud uses a unique style full of inventiveness and magical fantasy to portray his story of a modern day hero.
Allusions to the legends of King Arthur abound in The Natural, particularly in Hobbes’s personality and actions. For instance, Malamud introduces us to a number of allusions during Hobbes’s first at bat:
Wonderboy flashed in the sun. ... (Malamud, 83, 84)
In like manner, Malamud creates a fable in which “[…] the fortunes of its hero, a baseball player named Roy Hobbes, parallel those of Parzival, the medieval knight who restored the Wasteland” (Helterman, 23). ...
The plot of The Natural revolves mainly around Hobbes’s suffering and his lack of change in response to it.
Approximate Word count = 1573
Approximate Pages = 6.3
(250 words per page double spaced)
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