Succumbing to the wiles of Harriet Bird, a dangerous paranoid who shoots athletes with.

The protagonist is Roy Hobbs, a 'natural' all player, first seen on a train heading for Chicago and a tryout at the age of 19. He never learned from his past mistakes.A highly original, tightly written novel of America's national sport and its periphery of fanatics, which in its fantastic invention of character and exploit assumes the proportions of the fabulous impossible. 'He thought, I never did learn anything out of my past life, now I have to suffer again.'(Malamud 230) This passage illustrates why Roy can be considered a modern day loser. Roy is scared that beginning a relationship with Iris would force him to mature. Her beauty and affection attract Roy, but her maturity finally drives her away. Iris is the only woman in Roy's life who treats Roy with any respect. 'You filthy scum, I hate your guts and always have since the day you killed Bump.'(Malamud 230)Īnother woman Roy has trouble with is Iris Lemon. He is oblivious to the fact that Memo has never had any true feelings for him until she tells him. His lack of maturity off the playing field is in stark contrast with his physical maturity on the field. For Roy there is no life outside of baseball. Whenever he is asked what his goals in life are, Roy's answer is always to either to be the best, or to break as many records as possible.

Roy's answer to this question is the same throughout the book. She asks, 'But I don't understand why you should make so much of that. When Memos has her first 'date' with Roy, she asks Roy what is his goal in the life. Malamud uses his story to represent talented people who waste their talent, and ultimately end up with nothing due to their own immaturity. It also becomes more apparent that these flaws include a lack of maturity outside of baseball, lack of a work ethic, and poor decision making. For all of his physical tools, Roy cannot overcome his personal flaws, which finally bring hims down. Roy is a talented athlete who fails to live up to the world's expectations of him despite his good intentions. In his novel, 'The Natural', Bernard Malamud presents a paradox of a character in Roy Hobbs.

The natural malamud