Ex-Basketball Player by John Updike - Essay Example

English November 26, The Theme of Fame in “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike Fame is like a river that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid (Francis Bacon). Fame is a fickle thing and this theme is convincingly portrayed in John Updike’s poem “Ex- Basketball player.” The poem is probably one of the most popular American poems of the 20th century. The poet writes about a high school basketball star, who has taken his talent nowhere and eventually ended up doing a menial job at a gas station. The poem is built around the main character Flick Webb, who used to be a highly talented basketball player, but due to his lack of commitment to his goals, is now confined to the monotony of pumping gas at “Berth’s Garage” (Updike para.1) at a town where he was born and raised. The poem explores the other side of fame and the downside of losing tracks of a big shot career. The protagonist’s failure and mediocrity as he experienced the pinnacle of his life at far too young an age is portrayed by strong characterization, use of symbolism and imagery to raise the theme about the harsh reality of what real fame can be in terms of sustaining it. The poem sends out a message that if one is sidetracked by the fame and does not work on his goals, it is not possible to reach his dreams. “The ball loved Flick” (Updike) and “he was the best” (Updike) this clearly mentions that Flick used to be a local hero and that the entire town looks upon his past with a sort of admiration as well as pride. Flick did not exactly make it big but he did make it big enough to be remembered by his peers. There is a sense of sorrow in the eyes of the townspeople, as if they are mourning the lost talent. Flick’s talent was realized but was never pursued. Throughout the poem, “Ex-Basketball Player” (Updike) Updike reminds the reader about the unrealized dream by showing glimpses of Flick’s once renowned passion for basketball and his short lived fame. Flick does not concentrate on developing his talents throughout his formative years. The readers are left to wonder what prevented him from honing his skills. The poem has five stanzas and thirty lines. The first stanza describes the ex-basketball player and the main character Flick. It straightforwardly tells us that Flick now works at “Berth’s Garage” (Updike) and that he does not have a “chance to go two blocks” from his former high school. From the first stanza we can concluded that Flick is a failure who ended up working in a garage. His attachment to his old school is also very strong as he does not want to be very far from his old school where he had been celebrated as a hero. The description of his job indicates that Flick is doing a job which is less suited for him with no potential to move up in life. The poem does not have any rhyming scheme or a consistent meter. Throughout the poem, the author uses a free verse. This is effective in conveying the message and reminders amongst the young readers. The author uses simple language to express himself and to convey the message about the importance of learning a trade and honing your skills to make it out in the real world. High school may be the place where we are a star, but there is life outside high school where one needs to survive. Without real skills it is tough to survive in the real world and this is what the poem tries to convey. One needs to work hard to achieve his goals as there is no place in this word for the lazy people. Even though we may be gifted with a special talent, we cannot expect the gift to nurture itself, it is our responsibility to hone our skills. The author tries to convince us using a simple language and a simple example about the fact of life and how it is our responsibility to make use of our talent by not wasting it. Flick wasted his talents by not learning the trade and therefore he ended up doing a minimal monotonous job without any prospect of moving forward in life. In an interview, the author admits that most of his stories derive from his “interest in the phenomenon of an athlete outliving his time” (John & Plath 144). The author stated that “The poem is one of the few of mine to appear in school anthologies. I am surprised it still speaks to young readers, since much of the imagery— Esso gas pumps, small-town garages, lemon phosphates, Nibs, and Juju Beads—has become obsolete… But perhaps the curve of adolescent success and adult disappointment is still with us, and Flick’s failure to produce a second act in his life’s drama worthy of the first is still a useful American metaphor” (John & Plath). Updike reveals about the American way of life and the importance of staying grounded in life. However, in the instant case, Flick does not remain totally committed to his call. Though he is shown as a highly gifted player, whose “hands were like wild birds” and whom “the ball loved,” he fails to maintain the cutting edge of performance, and, therefore, his fame vanishes (Updike). Thus, the author implies that simply by being talented, an athlete cannot sustain the fame. On the other hand, he or she needs to remain dedicated to the game and continuously improve his or her performance. This is the second idea about fame that the author wants to communicate to his audience through this poem. In the poem, Updike remains neutral in depicting Flick’s situation by not making an obvious stance, but he uses imagery to represent the dark, gloomy world of his present life and countering it with the colorful life of Flick’s past. The use of imagery to compare his life is seen in the first stanza of the poem, where Pearl Avenue “bends with the trolley tracks and stops, cut off” (Updike) This description of the place sums up the life of Flick. It begins at the high school lot where Flick was famous. Then , his adult life is described as bending “ with the trolley tracks” (Updike) where it was stopped by the gas station or rather “cut off” before he had the chance to make it big in the world. In other words, Flick’s life was stuck in the high school where he was remembered as a hero. Fame has a way making people suffer, and this is exactly what is seen in Flick’s life. He cannot go back in time to relive his fame, nor can he move forward in life as he never took the time to harness his talent. Flick’s basketball glory days were cut off by the reality of life, that only the strongest shall survive and as the poem suggest that he “never learned a trade‘(Updike) to survive in a competitive society. In the second stanza, Flick’s place is amongst the “Idiot pumps” (Updike) with their “rubber elbows hanging loose and low.” (Updike). The imagery conveys that these inanimate objects are the closest contacts of Flick’s adult life which is a sharp contrast to his earlier life of fame. Symbolism is also used to illustrate the monotonous life of the protagonist and the long lost fame. The narrator talks about the monotonous life of Flick and how he spends his time playing a pin ball. The game of pinball symbolizes the hopelessness of life without goals or ambitions. It is also a symbol of being stuck in life with no prospect of advancing in life. It also tells the reader indirectly that Flick has not been able to step further in life after he left school, and that he can only reminiscent about his glory days. The “idiot pumps” (Updike) are symbols of the past opponents flick has encountered. “Five on a side” (Updike) is also a symbol for the players teaming up against Flick on the basketball court. Flick finds himself in a limbo where he is unable to move up in life without any skills, yet unwilling to give up his past glory days. Even though he cannot fulfill his dreams he just brags of “bright applauding tiers Of Necco Wafers, Nibs, and Juju Beads” (Updike para. 5). These snacks are symbols of childhood days, the days which Flicks desperately tries to cling on to. The harsh reality of life came crushing down on Flick’s life and washed away his fame and is just reduced as the “ex- basketball player.” The pearl avenue in the poem also symbolizes the road to success. The road to success is often curvy and hard to follow. It has many “bends” and “stops” and “cut offs” (Updike), therefore it is the road less travelled by many people. Often times, people take the short cut to success and this never works. Talents should be nurtured but however many people who are gifted with such talents do not become famous and it transpires that achieving fame is not an easy task. This is the same reason why Flick failed to be a professional basketball player despite his talent. The poet chooses the use of colloquial language throughout the poem. It is a midrange between a proper grammar and cursing. Colloquial language made the poem simpler to comprehend and the use of it is quite effective in representing a person who is nothing more or less than a gas station attendant. The use of colloquial language enhances the theme of a short lived fame and the fall from fame. It also portrays the reality of a high school basketball star who failed to utilize his talent. The poet also uses a simple and direct poetic diction to narrate Flicks fall from fame. By using simple languages he invites the reader to pass judgment on how life played a brutal joke on the basketball player. One of the interesting things about this poem is the use of simple words throughout the poem. The poet uses simple languages to describe the protagonist and his surroundings, yet it is very effective in conveying the theme of fame. The simple use of similes “his hands were like wild birds” (Updike para. 3) effectively describes how Flick played basketball and how good he was. Flick’s talent is described in a simple simile and summed up in colloquial language to demonstrate the fact the Flick is a fallen hero who failed to go beyond high school. The theme of fame is and its effect on people is seen throughout the poem. Fame has a way of making people feel out of place. Flick was famous during his high school years but after high school he being reduced to a mere gas seller. Flick ended up selling gas, fixing flats and changing oils. This demonstrates the fickleness of fame and how one can taste fame one minute and it just vanishes like a thin air in seconds. Flick failed to learn his trade during and after high school, so he was not able to hold on to his fame to obtain a place in professional basketball where he could move up in life. Throughout the poem Flick feels out of place and it can be seen that he is not necessarily happy as he has trouble letting go of his past fame. It is not only Flick who has difficulty in letting go of his past glory days, but the town people as well. Once a person becomes famous, it is difficult to forget it as it seems to cling on to that person. Even Flick cannot put his past behind him as the narrator ponders “As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube, but most of us remember anyway” (Updike Para. 4). The towns people cannot let go of their fallen hero. Flick is a fallen hero but he is definitely not forgotten. Even though he failed to prosper in life and degrade himself to “selling gas” and “changing flats” at the local station, people still remembers his heyday. Flick is reduced to a mere representation of how a person can fall from the pedestal of fame. The poem explores the other side of fame and the reality of life. It also portrays the after effects of fame. In the end, flick is left with only the memories of his glory days and the respect of some of the townsmen who still remember his talent. Flick has neither the chance to develop his talent nor the initiative to escape his monotonous life and therefore he is trapped in time. The poet demonstrates how it is crucial to develop one’s talent and how one should not lost track of his goals in life. The author emphasize that fact that fame is momentary unless athletes remain totally dedicated to their call and do sustained hard work to improve their skills. One cannot sustain the life the fame unless he works hard to cultivate his talents and has the motivation to stay on top. The poet said that “As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube, but most of us remember anyway” (Updike 21-22). This implies that Flick is no longer the all- star that he was in high school and that the town still remembers his rise to fame as well as his failure. Work Cited Busha & Virginia. Poetry in the Classroom: Ex- Basketball Player. Department of English. Pioneer Valley Regional School. Northfield. Massachusetts. Print. Updik, John. Ex-Basketball Player. Poetry Foundation. 1953. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. Updike, John. & Plath, James. Conversations with John Updike. University Press of Mississippi. 1994. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. Updike, John. Essay, Research Paper: Ex Ball Player. SolidPapers.com. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. < https://www.solidpapers.com/collegepapers/English/7472.htm> Updike, John. Poet’s.org from the Academy of American Poets. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. Read More