Symbolism in The Natural takes the form of characters, such as women who strongly influenced Roy; historical events, such as the infamous 1919 World Series scandal; and even Greek and Roman mythology. All forms of symbolism used by Malamud are woven into the life and career of Roy Hobbs.

As a first example, women have a tremendous influence on Roy's actions and feelings. One of the more influential symbols in the book, women tend to control what Roy does. The first woman Roy falls for is Harriet Bird whom he meets on a train on his way to Chicago to try out for the Chicago Cubs. Roy is extremely attracted to her, but a major league ballplayer on the train named Whammer Wambold has already caught her eye. Roy becomes jealous and begins to do things to try to get her attention. At a stop in the route, the passengers get off for a break and go to a

"Pop's blunder" mirrors Chuck Hostetler's fall in the '45 series that cost his team a game (47). Wile playing for the Detroit Tigers in 1945, Hostetler cost his team a World Series victory when he slipped, tripped, and fell rounding third base on his attempt to score. Pop's blunder" is exactly what happened to Hostetler. When Pop Fisher was a player, he made the same mistake in the regular season, costing his team the pennant, while Hostetler's fall did not affect the Tiger's championship hopes.

In conclusion, symbolism plays an extremely important role in Bernard Malamud's The Natural. In creating this masterpiece, Malamud relates his own life to that of Roy Hobbs, in part because they both got late starts in their respective careers (Solotaroff 6). On the surface, Roy, a baseball player, and Malamud, a writer, do not seem to have much in common. However, due to that commonality between the author and his character, much of the symbolism in The Natural is deep-seeded and is found by the reader upon reflection on the book. Therefore, understanding Malamud's use of symbolism is critical in understanding The Natural, its background, its times, and its meaning.

Roy's life is similar to Percival's in numerous ways. Roy begins his career at a young age, aspiring to become a major league baseball player and an eventual star. Like Roy, Percival wants to become someone of importance and goes to the King's court to be knighted.

Malamud, Bernard. The Natural. New York:Avon Books,1952.

The character of Harriet Bird serves as an ancestor-figure to Iris Lemon and Memo Paris (Helterman 25). In a way, Iris and Memo are symbolic descendants of Harriet because they, too, have so much influence on Roy. Memo, however, closely resembles Harriet in personality. Both of the women are very attracted to two separate major league ball players, Memo having a relationship with Roy's teammmate Bump Bailey, and Harriet being attracted to Whammer Wabold on the train. Both also seem to want to cause Roy harm, doing what they can to stand in the way of his eventual stardom.

Bernard Malamud. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:Chelsea House Publishers. 47-64

Some common words found in the essay are:
Wambold Roy's, Middle Ages, Roy Hobbs, Natural Roy's, Pop Fisher, Astonished Percival, Black Sox, Whammer Wambold, Greeks Romans, Mentally Memo, pop fisher, fisher king, bernard malamud, major league, roy hobbs, holy grail, chicago cubs, life roy, example symbolism, meaning natural, medieval tale percival, greek roman mythology, fisher king's speech, meaning natural middle, holy grail spear,
Approximate Word count = 2597
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)