A PANOPTIC REINTERPRETATION OF MALAMUD’S THE NATURAL
The Natural is Malamud novel without any Jewish characters and although the novel is more closely tied to Malamud’s later works than some reviewers have claimed, Wasserman and others have remarked that the concept of redemption is unquestionably part of pagan-Christian mythology. Roy’s search for himself can also be understood within the less obvious context of a Jewish tradition, particularly Hasidism or Jewish Mysticism, where the search for God or the Father is equated with the search for oneself and where the surest way to God is to travel into the depths of the self. Jewish mystic’s insistence, from the first to the twentieth century that the quest for God or virtue begins and ends with a journey into one’s depths. It is never too late to make the proper choice, to realize and take responsibility for one, as long as many lives. Roy Hobbs returns home safely when we see The Natural from its suggested Hasidic perspective.
Hasidism, Jewish Mysticism, the Natural.