Symbolism In Bernard Malamud's The Natural

Symbolism is like a spider web, every symbol is connected to another symbol and it never stops. Authors use symbolism in their writing because it communicates a deeper picture and helps connect the story more to the main idea. In the book, The Natural by Bernard Malamud, there is multiple symbolic meanings used throughout the book. Each of all the symbols connect back to the main idea and create a highly detailed story.
The first example of symbolism is water and how it is used in books to show life. The silver bullet that hits Roy glides through him like a bullet glides through water from Roy’s understanding. Then, later in the book, Roy tricks Iris into thinking he is drowning by going under water for a while, after she refuses to kiss him, but while he is underwater, he visualizes a glowing and gorgeous red haired mermaid swimming away, which represents an image of Memo. This is symbolic to Roy’s feelings about Memo and how he doesn’t want her to escape and forget about him. On Roy’s first date with Memo, they drive around and come across a body of water that they stop at, only to find out that it is not safe to swim in because of the polluted water. This

Wonderboy is like a sword; it gives him special powers. When Roy uses Wonderboy, he is able to hit the worst of worst pitches and without Wonderboy his bad habits give him multiple problems. During Roy’s outstanding streak, it was as if Wonderboy was alive and living in his hands. However, when Roy went into a two week slump, Wonder Boy “slumped and drooped” across home plate and the dugout area. The description of the bat is symbolic to Roy’s attitude throughout the season; acting and looking like he is on top of the world when he is succeeding, but then acting and looking down in the dumps when he is not