1. Nature in all its elements--vegetation, birds, seasons, water, wind, drought--is an important motif throughout the film. How might we read these elements? How do they speak to the film's overall argument about death and rebirth?
2. The theme of death/rebirth appears to be a rather prominent theme in many sports films. Using this as your thesis, choose another film and explore its connection to your thesis.
3. How does The Natural depict the rise and fall of a modern American hero?
4. Consider these remarks from Kevin Baker’s Introduction to The Natural: “Hobbs
is one of the most thoroughly unsympathetic heroes in the history of American
literature . . . One can feel little real pity for any character who has so assiduously shaped his own doom.” (p. xii) Would you agree? Can, or should, we pity Roy Hobbs?
5. Compare and contrast how this film depicts the urban and the rural, the
experience of the city and that of the country. Which environment is seen more
favorably, romantically, nostalgically? Which is seen more critically, harshly,
complexly? Refer to certain scenes or images to underscore your views.
6. Explore the film's portrayal of the elusive yet all-consuming power
of ambition. We are often reminded that Hobbs is obsessed with rewriting
professional baseball’s record book, with “doing what I came here to do,” with
being “the best who ever played the game”—but why is Hobbs so driven?
7. The Natural not only offers a detailed rendering of the world of baseball; it also
illustrates the business aspect of professional sports. How is the relationship
between pro sports and business characterized in this film? What about the rela-
tionship between pro sports and gambling? Do you think that either of these rela-
tionships would be characterized differently if the story was being told today?
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