The Natural

by

Bernard Malamud

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Natural makes teaching easy.

Roy Hobbs, a nineteen-year-old baseball prodigy, is traveling to Chicago with the scout who discovered him, Sam Simpson, to try out for the Chicago Cubs. On the train, Hobbs and Sam encounter Walter “The Whammer” Whambold, a well-known baseball star, and when the train makes a stop at a carnival, Sam organizes a pitching and hitting competition between Hobbs and the Whammer. Though apparently outmatched, Hobbs wins the competition, attracting the attention of both a conniving journalist, Max Mercy, and a mysterious, striking young woman also traveling on the train, Harriet Bird. Sam is accidentally hit in the stomach during the competition; weakened, he dies shortly thereafter, insisting that Hobbs continue on with his travels. Hobbs makes it to Chicago, where he receives a call from Harriet inviting him to her hotel room. He accepts and visits her, but upon entering the room, she shoots him in the chest with a silver bullet from a pistol. It is suggested that Harriet is obsessed with killing famous athletes, and Hobbs’ demonstrated prowess against the Whammer encouraged her to target him.

Fifteen years later, Hobbs enters the dugout of the New York Knights and introduces himself to the team’s manager and coach, Pop Fisher and Red Blow. The team is performing poorly, in part because the team’s corrupt, immoral co-owner, Judge Banner, has arranged several bad trades in an attempt to diminish shareholders’ confidence in Pop Fisher, thereby allowing Banner to take over the team. Additionally, The Knights’ star player, Bump Baily, has become “lazy” and brash. Hobbs promises Pop and Red that he will help restore the Knights’ reputation by using his “Wonderboy” bat, a bat he carved himself in childhood, to hit impressive home runs.

Hobbs is permitted to pinch-hit for Bump during a crucial game, and to the team’s surprise, he performs far better than a rookie, hitting an coveted triple. In a subsequent game, Bump, hoping to outdo Hobbs, runs into the outfield wall in an attempt to catch a fly ball, later dying of his injuries. Hobbs takes over Bump’s position on the team and begins to pursue his grieving girlfriend, Memo Paris.

Hobbs struggles with his teammates and Judge Banner, who refuses to pay him a better salary, and begins to hit poorly as a result. Max Mercy, now a famous journalist, pursues Hobbs, whose past he is determined to uncover (having forgotten their encounter on the train years earlier). A fortune teller, Lola, informs Hobbs that he will meet and fall in love with a “dark haired lady,” though he dismisses the prediction, choosing to concentrate on his efforts with Memo—who continues to refuse his advances, calling herself a “dead man’s girl.” During one important game, however, Hobbs spots a dark haired woman, Iris Lemon, in the stands, and her presence seems to inspire him to hit a spectacular home run. Hobbs later meets with Iris and shares a tranquil night with her: she is drawn to and protective of him. Likewise, Hobbs feels comfortable with Iris, even confiding in her about his troubled past. When Hobbs learns that Iris is a grandmother, though, having had a daughter at a young age, he cruelly rejects her.

Hobbs plays well for the remainder of the season, but shortly before the final game, he collapses during a botched sexual encounter with Memo. Told that he must retire for his own health after the last game against the Pirates, Hobbs becomes concerned about his future without baseball and accepts a bribe from Judge Banner to “throw” the last game of the season—that is, purposefully lose the match so that Banner can profit from gamblers who are betting against the Knights. During the game, Hobbs hits a ball into the stands that strikes Iris, who has come to see him again, and destroys Wonderboy on a foul. Iris informs Hobbs that she is pregnant, and he resolves to try to win the game for her and their future child. Ultimately, though, Hobbs strikes out against the Pirates’ star pitcher, a prodigy named Herman Youngberry. Desolate about his loss and disgusted with his own immoral actions, Hobbs tears up Banner’s bribe check. Memo, in cahoots with Banner, tries to shoot Hobbs but cannot bring herself to. Meanwhile, Mercy discovers Hobbs’s past as well as his involvement in the gambling scandal and plans to publish the information. In the end, Hobbs is left to wander the streets of New York alone, utterly ruined.