Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
... I think if this is to be a classic hero's journey, with the hero coming full circle, then the conditions at the end should replicate those at the beginning. Since Roy now must take the place of the aging player in his last test, I think it was necessary for him to have the same final task. And the Babe Ruth reference makes it entirely credible.
Or, as the final line in The Great Gatsby put it:
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(Sorry to take off - I’m a bit tied up with company. )
That makes sense. Initially, I wanted more explanations from the author, but eventually gave that up. It felt more like a fable than a novel. The writing has a mythological flavour - especially the dream & daydream segments. And the events are either improbable or the scale was too out of proportion to be taken literally. (No human could possibly eat that much!)
But honestly I’m not sure what Malamud was actually getting at. Is it a cautionary tale? Beware the path of Roy / follow the way of Iris ? If so, why did he make everything so dark & bleak? Iris is the only bright light in the story. Was it about post war disillusionment?