Symbol of Wonderboy

From the very beginning of the novel we see the special bat Roy Hobbs uses in all of his games. "I made it myself, from a tree near homeI made it a long time ago when I was a kid. I wanted it to be a very special bat"(52).

This tree was struck by lightning, and had a glow to it, which shows the reader the tree was almost mystical in a sense. The bat is something Roy is dependent on, as he never uses any other bat. Because of this, the bat almost symbolizes part of Roy. What part of Roy might he symbolize? Wonderboy symbolizes the part of Roy that is unexplainable, and does the impossible not only for himself, but for his teammates as well, hence the name "wonderboy."

At the end of the novel, however, wonderboy is broken, and Roy is forced to use another bat that he is unaccustomed to.
"With his hands he deepened the grave in the dry earth and packed the sides tight. He couldn't stand seeing it in two pieces so he removed them and tried squeezing them together in the hope they would stick but the split was smooth, as if the bat had willed its own brokenness, and the two parts would not stay together"(228). An obvious emotional separation. We can see Roy depicts the bat as almost a person when he buries him in the dirt.

Wonderboy is specially made with love, care, and devotion; all characteristics that make a baseball player better than the rest. Wonderboy is such a powerful image that it is even more than just an inanimate object. The "power" Wonderboy gives to Roy almost makes it seem like Wonderboy is just as much of a hero as Roy is. This bat comes alive throughout the book, giving Roy the extra boost of power he needs to keep his team alive and winning.