Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Higher EducationWestish College is place where everyone from the students to the president calls first-year students "freshpersons" with a straight face. Their colors are an ugly combination of nav...
Narrator Point of View
No one can be a baseball team by himself. Nine players must cooperate to make a good team. The fate of the team doesn't rely on any one person, and neither does the narrative rely on any one person...
What's Up With the Title?
Henry's religion is baseball, and his bible is a book called—wait for it—The Art of Fielding, written by star shortstop Aparicio Rodriguez. Given all the Moby Dick allusions in this book,...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
So be cheery, my ladsLet your hearts never fallWhile the bold HarpoonerIs striking the ball.—Westish College fight songWe're surprised this book doesn't have an epigraph from Moby Dick. But, like...
What's Up With the Ending?
The Art of Fielding has a feel-good sports story ending—the Harpooners win the championship, after all. At the same time, it's also got one of the weirder endings we've experienced in contemporar...
Tough-o-Meter
Reading The Art of Fielding isn't the literary equivalent of playing the World Series, but it's not slow-pitch softball either. It's like a preseason game against an archrival—a little challengin...