The Natural (Bernard Malamud)

analyzed by Courtney Harrell

1. What is the genre?

Global—Performance > Sports

Secondary—Morality > Punitive

2. What are the conventions and obligatory scenes for the genre?

Conventions

Training. As with any Performance story, there is some baseball training and practice, though most of the book is either during actual games or outside of the game interaction between Roy and Memo or Roy and others revolving around the secondary genre or subplots.

All is Lost Moment. When Wonderboy cracks in half, Roy realizes he can’t recover from the loss and knows there’s no chance he’ll help his team come back to win the game.

Mentor recovers moral compass or betrays the Protagonist to act out perceived victimhood. Pop acts out his victimhood. In the core event Pop takes the blame for the “mess” they’re in of being behind the other teams believing the cause is since he benched Roy for 3 weeks in June. Pop puts the pressue on Roy to win this game because he believes he’ll never coach a team that wins the World Series but he will be satisfied if they can just win the league pennant before he retires.

The power divide between the antagonist and protagonist is wide and deep. The power divide between The Judge and Roy are huge. The Judge is the ultimate Antagonist. He is a very wealthy, powerful man and the owner of the New York Knights. He only cares about making more money and even stoops to the level of paying off his own players to throw a game so he can bet against them and win. Roy doesn’t really stand a chance against the Judge’s power and wealth, but in the end Roy stands up to him.

Ironic, win-but-lose, lose-but-win ending. In the end, Roy’s team loses the game, ending their possibility of ever going to the Playoffs. But Roy wins because he regains his moral compass. He stops faking being too injured to hit the ball and finally tries to help win the game. After the loss, when he finds the cash in his coat pocket, instead of keeping it, he wins-but-loses by giving the cash back to the Judge also losing his possibility of continuing to play professional baseball. He also loses Memo but ultimately he wins because she was a terrible person only using him for his money.

Obligatory Scenes

Inciting performance opportunity: The inciting performance opportunity occurs many years before the majority of the story when a baseball scout takes 19 year-old Roy Hobbs to Chicago to try out for the major leagues.

Protagonist sidesteps responsibility to perform: In the Big Event, Pop practically begs Roy to play hard and win the game so Pop can earn the pennant. Roy says he’ll go in but in his mind that doesn’t mean he will play well.

Forced to perform, the protagonist lashes out. Roy finally decides to quit his deal with the Judge. Otto Zipp eggs Roy on so much that Roy misuses his gift by hitting foul balls at Otto eventually nailing Iris on the head.

Protagonist discovers and understands the antagonist's object of desire. Roy discovers that the Judge wants Roy to throw the game so that the Knights will lose. Since the Knights are favored to win, when the Judge bets against them, he’ll be guaranteed a ton of money.

Protagonist’s initial strategy to outmaneuver the antagonist fails. Roy eats and eats until he’s so sick he has to go to the hospital hoping to avoid playing in the game.

Protagonist, realizing that they must change their approach to salvage some form of honor, reaches an ‘all is lost moment’. Roy tries to salvage his honor by swinging hard assuming he’ll hit a homerun and winning for the Knights. But with the power of his hit and the backlash of his abuse of his gift, Wonderboy cracks in half leaving him to believe he is powerless.

The Big Event Scene, the central event of the Performance story, when the Protagonist’s gift is expressed. Since this isn’t the typical Performance story where the Protagonist’s team comes back to win, Roy’s gift isn’t expressed in a way that wins the game. Roy is actually punished for his misuse of his gift.  

Protagonist is rewarded at one or more levels of satisfaction (external, internal, or interpersonal). Roy is absolutely not rewarded externally. He’s lost everything. He is not rewarded interpersonally because people presume he threw the game. He is, however, rewarded internally because he gives back the money he was promised to throw the game. I also think he’s learned a huge life lesson that he may never recover from.

3. What is the point of view?

Third Person Omniscient, free in direct style (primarily Roy’s views and thoughts)

4. What are the objects of desire?

External/Conscious: Roy wants fame and fortune.

Internal/Subconscious: Roy needs to learns to play as a part of the team instead of playing for his own gain.

5. What is the controlling idea / theme?

We lose respect when we commit to misusing our gifts for our own gain.

*Since this story ends negatively, it’s a cautionary tale

6. What is the beginning hook, middle build and ending payoff?

Beginning Hook - When 19 year old Roy Hobb’s promising baseball career is cut short by a strange woman who shoots him (for no reason ever explained), he loses his opportunity to have a significant, long-term career. 15 years later, at age 34, he gets a second chance when he is recruited to play for the New York Knights. The team gives him a hard time, Pop won’t put him in the line up despite the team flopping. But when Roy finally gets a chance to bat, he knocks the cover off the ball just like Pop had told him to do proving his skill. After Roy’s nemesis, Bump, dies, Roy takes his place and quickly rises to the top as the team’s best player. Roy becomes overconfident and demands more money from the Judge but is denied.

Middle Build – Roy is adored by fans and given a ton of gifts but on a late night drive with Memo, she runs over something in his new car. She refuses to find out what she hit and she refuses to date Roy. Memo’s denial gets in Roy’s head and he starts to play terribly. During a losing streak, a mysterious woman stands in support of Roy and he makes a come back. His focus on the game improves and the Knights rise again becoming favored to win the pennant and head to the World Series. But when Memo entices Roy and the team to celebrate early, Roy’s distress returns, he overeats and ends up in the hospital bringing losses to his team.

Ending Payoff –In the hospital, Roy is told this season must be his last or else he’ll die. Memo seduces Roy by telling him she will marry him if he has enough money for them to live off of, all he has to do is throw their last game in the league series. After some tough negotiation with the Judge, Roy agrees. During the game, he’s at odds with the deal he made. When he hits a foul ball at Iris’ head and finds out he’s going to be a father, he commits to playing his best and winning the game. But Roy’s attempts are denied when Wonderboy cracks in half. The Knights lose the game. Roy finds his sell out money in his jacket, he returns it to the Judge realizing he’s essentially lost everything he wanted in his life - fame and fortune, though he did the right thing morally to be able to live with himself.

Download the Story Grid Global Foolscap