Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Natural, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Ambition, Failure, and the American Dream
Baseball and American Vice
Mythology, Heroism, and Stardom
Femininity, Stereotypes, and Destruction
Summary
Analysis
At night after the game, Hobbs drags Wonderboy onto left field and buries it there. He goes back into the clubhouse, changes into his street clothes, and finds his money from Judge Banner. Hobbs then goes up to see the Judge, who is accompanied by Memo and Gus. Hobbs punches Gus when he tries to congratulate him, then calls Memo a “whore;” he returns the money to the Judge, who raises a revolver. Hobbs drops the gun into a trashcan and assaults Banner, leaving him moaning on the floor. Memo shoots at Hobbs as he goes to leave, but as he approaches her, she is unable to fire again, aiming the gun into her mouth instead. Hobbs takes the gun, gets rid of its bullets, and leaves her behind.
Hobbs has failed to become the mythical figure of redemption he originally seemed to be—failing to save the Knights and Pop Fisher—but this final scene demonstrates the extent to which he recognizes his own errors of judgment. He refuses to take the bribe money and rebuffs Memo. Like Harriet, Memo tries to shoot Hobbs, but Hobbs calmly prevents her from firing her gun, demonstrating a new sense of mastery over female power. Nonetheless, it is too late for his life to turn around: Hobbs has finally gained real confidence, prioritizing morality and taking charge of his own choices, but he can never play baseball again, and his acceptance of Banner’s bribe has ruined his reputation.
Themes
Destitute, exhausted, and unrecognizable to the crowd of city-goers, Hobbs wanders through New York. A boy hands Hobbs a newspaper. Max Mercy has published a column about the scandal, as well as a picture of Hobbs shot down by Harriet; Hobbs will be excluded from the sport in the future because of his involvement with Banner’s corruption. The boy says to Hobbs, “Say it ain’t true, Roy,” and Hobbs bursts into tears.
Hobbs’s past is finally revealed, and he becomes one more anonymous city-goer, stripped of all celebrity status. Though once a great star, he is exposed as utterly fallible (as he has been throughout the novel), and he returns to the same life he knew before his career in baseball: a life of poverty and anonymity.
Themes
