Gonterman L

Leah Michele Gonterman

Justin Staley
LSP 112 Crack ofthe Bat
April 16, 2014
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Short Assignment #1: Portnoy's Complaint
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Philip Roth's short story "Portnoy's Complaiht" is a monologue of the narrator
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complaining to his psychiatrist. During his monologue he talks about how it felt to be a center
fielder, what it means to be a center fielder, the nerves he had when trying out for the high
school baseball team, the feeling to catch the last out, and the feeling of hitting the ball. The
entire monologue amplifies and romanticizes every little part of baseball to make one
seemingly exciting game. When reading this I felt as though someone had asked the patient
(narrator) what made him happy or what do you think about baseball. Baseball is a youthful
sport. Although you can play catch in your old age, the sliding and running wild is something
that kids can do easier. Kids like to feel as if they are important and learn from watching.
When Roth says, "Because center field is like some observation post, a kind of control tower,
where you are able to see everything and everyone, to understand what's happening," he
shows that the narrator is a kid at heart. The narrator is now older which can be inferred by
him running out of the hospital. However in his mind he is still that young baseball player who is
the most important person in school. The author stresses a lot on the meaning of center field.
Many authors have different opinions on which position is the most important or the best and
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usually it is the position
they played in high school. That being said the way the author
desribes center field is as if he is the older Orotnlr taking care of all the other positions. He
watches over everyone and when his "younger brothers" in the infield can't catch the ball
because it's over their heads he scoops it up for them. He likes taking care of them rather than
being taken care of, which is what is happening now that he is older. All in all, the narrator is
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an old guy reminiscing on what it was like to be young and uses baseball to help explain
thosefeerings.
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