Questions on Shoeless Joe - Assignment Example

?Question The novel Shoeless Joe is the origin of the film Field of Dreams. The novel written by W.P. Kinsella’s is refreshing and fulfilling by the beautiful essence of the game of base ball. The movie Field of Dreams based on the novel have also been an excellent one. The story line of the film had been a ubiquitous experience in the minds of the fans of the game. (Weber) Both the film and the novel center on the love for the game and the peace of mind of human beings. Though the film have been adopted from the novel the point of views of the two are quite a bit different. The first part of the novel consists of the background information of the main character of the story. The love for the game of base ball along with the description of his father and Annie his wife is the main content of the first part of the novel. The main character of the story is the narrator himself. The movie has some more main characters than the story. The characterization of the film is different from that of the original novel. The movie depicts that despite the work of Ray, in converting his corn field into a base ball ground, he had always doubted his works. But the main character of the novel is certain about his deeds and leaves no space in following his dreams. This difference in the characterization of the film had contributed in making the film more real than the original story. The doubt Ray had in mind regarding his task depicts the real world of living in which earning subsistence is more necessary than fulfilling the dreams for people. Since the corn field was a substantial source of income of the family converting that for the dream of making a base ball field results in the situation of bankruptcy for the family and hence the doubt in the work of ray that has been depicted in the film is much more real and lifelike than the original novel. (TimeoutLondon; Barry) Question 2 The story of the novel of Shoeless Joe written by W.P Kinsella depicts the love of young farmer for baseball. The novel is a beautiful triumph of imagination of the author in the illustration of the individual’s love for the game. His love for the game made him convert his field of corn into a base ball field, in the fantasy of seeing his favorite base ball player Joe playing barefoot in the field. A magical mission of baseball was undertaken by the farmer. The farmer along with another character of the novel J. D. Salinger traveled all down to Minnesota in the search of a player who had played a single innings many a days before in the oldest living club of ex-Chicago. Wonderful myths of the game of base ball were depicted in the film in a very gentle and sweet tone. A world that is culturally conservative and restrictive had been depicted by the author in his book. The social history of the game in the framework of the Ronald Reagan’s presidential rule reflects the discrimination of the society as well as the world of games on the basis of race and gender. In the novel the famous base ball player Shoeless Joe Jackson was the role model of the farmer who had been involved in a scandal and hence forced to quit the game. The farmer dreamt of his dream player playing in his field. The love for the game and the players were very truly and beautifully depicted in the film along with the racial discrimination. The film Field of Dreams has been adopted from the novel of Shoeless Joe. The film is also about the base ball player, Shoeless Joe Jackson, the legendary leftfielder of Chicago White Sox. The player got involved in the scandal of the so called black Sox of the year 1919 in America. The film had the wish of bringing back the country into the days of innocent white baseball. The days free of scandals, dirty tricks involved in the world of game along with no stains in the honor of the country were the ultimate aim of the common people of the country. The main character of the film had always dreamt of those days which were clean simple along with being pure and white. The counterculture of the year 1960s for the country had been reconciled in the film along with the conformists of the period of the 1980s. All these social issues had been very clearly and smoothly depicted through the world of game in the film. Playing ball with the political system of the country is like the inner meaning of the story of the film. The conversion of the cornfield into the base ball park helped in wiping out the transgressions of the history associated with the game and helped in returning the game in the days of innocence that was fabled. The resurrection of the Ray, who was among the eight white sox players involved in the scandal, depicts the ceremony of the purification of the world of the game. The announcement of the ball park led to the accomplishment of the work of turning the black sox into white again. The scandal that involved the dream player of the farmer Ray was the representation of the win of the powerful people of the society over the powerless ones. The players involved in the scandals had been mainly the victims of the circumstances which led to the destruction of their careers. Money for living on minimum subsistence was the reason behind the acceptance of bribe by the players as they were paid with the salaries of the peasants and the owners got the larger shares. Thus this forced the players to accept money for their subsistence. Confession of the sin by the baseball hero in the film baptizes the player washing away his sin of the Black Sox. This helped in the return of the player into the innocence of their childhood days exonerating from the crime they did. The rebirth of the players was ensured by the game structure within the conservative cultural framework of the country. Thus the social life and the living of the people and the problems they faced in their everyday life had been clearly depicted in both the novel and the film through the world of the game. Thus this film as well the literature on sports is the representation of the lives of the common people. (Bryan: Field of Dreams: Shoeless Joe) The film of the Legend of Bagger Vance depicts the life of a sports person with a tournament winning style of the game of golf. However the war destroyed the psyche of the player. The story was about the return of the person in the game, his inspiration along with his own struggle. The film was about an exhibition game that was organized between two renowned golf players. However the inspiration of the main character of the story Junuh in returning back to the game was the Bagger who had guaranteed in returning the master stroke to the player just in return of five dollars. It was suggested by Bagger to play his own game which gave the story a wiser look. Thus the story depicts the struggle of human beings in order to achieve their dreams. To conclude it can be said that people can achieve everything if desired from the bottom of the heart which had been depicted in the story through the return of Junuh in the world of golf. (Travers, 111; The legend of Baggar Vance) Thus the literature and the films have the focus on the world of sports which depicts the reality of the social life of people in an implicit way and hence they are valuable lessons of life. References Barry, Schweld. “Shoeless Joe”, Library Journal, (1982) 107.7, 745. Bryan, Garman, “Myth building and cultural politics in W.P. Kinsella's Shoeless Joe”, Canadian Review of American Studies, 1994, 24.1, 1st June, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=125&sid=7348aec1-8e2a-4942-b191-f0b1450f1a7c%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=7525065 Roger Weber, 'Field of Dreams' doesn't match 'Shoeless Joe', n.d, 1st June, 2011, from http://baseballjudgments.tripod.com/id73.html Kinsella, William Patrick, Shoeless Joe, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1982 Field of Dreams, Dir. Phil Alden Robinson. perf. Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones. Gordon Company, 1989 The legend of Baggar Vance, dir. Robert Redford, perf. Will Smith, Matt Damon, Fox Film Corporation, 2000 Travers, Peter, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Rolling Stone, 2000, Issue 854, 1st June, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=7348aec1-8e2a-4942-b191-f0b1450f1a7c%40sessionmgr104&vid=7&hid=125&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=3813010 TimeoutLondon, Field of Dreams Review, 2011, 1st June, 2011, from http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/66599/field-of-dreams.html Read More