Mythology, Heroism, and Stardom Theme Analysis

The Natural refers continually to myths—particularly those involving epic struggles and sacrifice—including the biblical story of David and Goliath and allusions to Arthurian legend (Hobbs’s “Wonderboy” bat bears a striking resemblance to King Arthur’s sword Excalibur, since it is imbued with supernatural powers). By evoking myths—namely those featuring an individual hero like Hobbs, gifted with extraordinary abilities—Malamud elevates Hobbs’s narrative to the status of mythology, underscoring the spectacular nature of his talents. In this way, Malamud suggests that Hobbs is a modern-day version of a mythic hero, in much the same way that American society valorizes its sporting legends. Yet Malamud also subverts typical conventions of mythology by creating a narrative in which Hobbs is ultimately fallible: his talents do not make him invincible, and he does not triumph over adversity (as the heroes of these myths usually do). Thus, Malamud suggests that American society’s insistence on elevating sports stars to the status of legendary heroes is unreasonable, since these “heroes,” too, are mortal.

The novel has been widely compared to the medieval myth of the Fisher King, given its similarity to the legend. Hobbs is meant to represent the knight (known as Percival in some versions of the story) who seeks to heal the Fisher King, a wounded king and bearer of the Holy Grail, who, paralyzed by his injury, is unable to do anything except fish near his castle and wait for rescue. The Knights’ team manager Pop Fisher is the obvious parallel to the Fisher King, and the poorly performing Knights baseball team (another clear resemblance to the medieval tale) represent the barren kingdom that Hobbs/Percival must help restore. Indeed, the Knights’ territory in New York City is literally barren: Pop notes that the Knights have experienced a “blasted dry season” with “no rains at all,” though when Hobbs hits his first home run of the season, it immediately begins to rain. Like the Fisher King, Pop Fisher is an ineffective leader, since the Knights have never won a season of baseball. Hobbs is his “savior”—a wunderkind who might be able to “heal” the downtrodden Pop, revitalizing him (and curing his “athlete’s foot of the hand,” which gets worse when the Knights perform poorly) by leading the Knights to victory and defending the season pennant, which stands in for the Holy Grail. By suggesting Hobbs’s similarity to a mythic knight from Arthurian literature—and creating an obvious parallel between the two narratives—Malamud emphasizes Hobbs’s extraordinary talents and positions him as a supernatural hero.

In the novel, Hobbs’s breakout success and supernatural skills are also celebrated by fans, who receive him with awe and reverence. His mysterious background (he never reveals his near-fatal wounding as a young player until a journalist uncovers the story) and determined attitude make him the stuff of baseball mythology—a transformation Malamud slyly signals to by alluding to the Fisher King myth.

By referencing the Fisher King myth, though, Malamud also creates an ironic tension between Hobbs’s fallibility—his lack of success in “healing” Pop Fisher and the team—and his apparent “mythical” status, satirizing the American tendency to worship sports heroes. In most versions of the legend, the knight is able to heal the Fisher King and restore his kingdom, thus protecting the Grail. Yet Hobbs is never successful in “healing” Pop Fisher as a result of his own egotism and poor decisions. Initially trusting of Pop and eager to work with him to achieve victory, Hobbs quickly becomes disillusioned with Pop’s managerial style: his “tough love” approach, which Hobbs, enamored of his own stardom, finds difficult to accept. Hobbs transfers his loyalties to Judge Banner, who hopes to cheat Pop out of his share of the team by causing the Knights to lose the pennant (thus demonstrating Pop’s inadequacy as a leader and justifying his firing). Though Hobbs eventually realizes the extent of Judge Banner’s corruption, he ends up betraying Pop by acquiescing to Banner’s demands. Hobbs begins the last game of the season intent on losing purposefully—to help Banner’s case—but resolves to try to win it after reflecting on the immorality of his own actions: Hobbs realizes that Pop is worth the sacrifice, that “he would gladly get down on his knees and kiss the old man’s [Pop’s] skinny, crooked feet, do anything to get up there this last time.” However, Hobbs is defeated by a younger, more talented pitching prodigy, proving that Hobbs’s abilities are less extraordinary than the novel’s mythic allusions might suggest; in the novel’s bleak conclusion, Hobbs is unable to “heal” Pop Fisher and “restore” his “kingdom” (the Knights) by leading the team to victory, thus reminding readers that Hobbs was never really worthy of the heroic status thrust upon him. Malamud’s depiction of a sports hero defeated—by both the failure of his abilities and his own immorality—demonstrates the futility of making comparisons between sports stars and the legendary heroes of classic mythology. Unlike the Knight in the myth of the Fisher King, Hobbs is far from heroic, and the “natural talent” he is celebrated for throughout the novel ultimately wears out, replaced by corruption. To extol sports stars—comparing them to mythology—is to overlook their very humanness.

Though the myth of the American dream goes unfulfilled in The Natural, allusions to other myths abound in the novel, especially the myth of the Fisher King, which provides the novel with its main conceit. In many ways, Hobbs’s story is an updated version of a classic medieval tale of injury and sacrifice. At first, Malamud’s use of mythology as an undercurrent in the novel lends weight to Hobbs’s talents, suggesting that Hobbs really is a supernatural baseball superstar. As the novel continues to unfold, however, the Malamud’s use of myth actually points to the ineffectuality of viewing sports stars as legendary heroes, since ironically, Hobbs is unable to live up to the expectations created by the mythical undertones of the story.