Girl Problems

Throughout the book, one main conflict for Roy was Roy vs. girl. In the beginning of the book, Roy meets a girl on the train named Harriet, when he is still a young man. We can see his lust for her throughout the first chapter.

"Never before had he felt so tongue-tied in front of a girl, a looker too. Now if he had her in her bed-"(28).

It turn out that Harriet is a crazy killer who tries to kill athletes, and ends up shooting Roy, which puts him out of baseball for quite a while.

Next is Memo, who Roy is crazy for. Throughout most of the book, Roy is constantly thinking about Memo, who is just getting over hear dead boyfriend, who was the star baseball player for the Knights. When she does go out on a few dates with Roy, Roy ends up empty handed as he asks her for a kiss and other actions. After he ends up empty handed, he usually plays his next game horribly, going into horrible slumps. At the end, we find out that Memo hates Roy and blames him for the death of her ex-boyfriend, Bump Bailey.

"You filthy scum, I hate your guts and always have since the day you murdered Bump"(230).

The last girl is Iris Lemon, who essentially gets Roy out of his slump he is in because of Memo. Iris is sort of like a fall back for Roy because Roy can't get Memo. Although Iris seems like a good thing for Roy, she ends up becoming pregnant with Roy's child, and that forces Roy to accept the offer to throw the pennant instructed by the Judge. Roy then loses the game and becomes a loser to all of his fans.

It is obvious that Roy couldn't control his feelings towards girls. This gets him into trouble throughout the book and causes him many painful memories, both physically and mentally. These girls might symbolize temptations, or distractions in "The Natural," because everytime Roy is doing well, a new girl comes along, and Roy falls for each and every one of them. This causes Roy to become unsuccesful in baseball, and life.