Question

English Literature Question

Who do you think is the antagonist of The Art of Fielding? The antagonist becomes more complex with more complex stories and plots. The "villian" can be a person/group of people/situation/circumstance, etc. Who or what best fits this description in the novel?

Answer 1

Henry's timeline and summary

• Even though Mike is initially cruel to him, Henry accepts his invitation to go to Westish College and play baseball.
• He trains and plays baseball and excels…
• ... until his wild throw whacks Owen in the head.
• Henry slowly crumbles until he eventually quits the team in the middle of a game.
• He sleeps with Mike's girlfriend, Pella, then moves in with her, doing nothing but peeing in bottles and watching TV all the time.
• Pella tries to talk Henry out of his depression but fails, so she kicks him out.
• He moves back to his dorm room, but then Guert, Pella's dad, sends him to the Westish championship game.
• Henry helps the team win—hooray!
• He gets drafted by his favorite team, the St. Louis Cardinals. Hooray again!
• But he turns them down and decides to stay at Westish and play on the team because he doesn't want anything to ever change. Um, hooray?

MIKE SCHWARTZ TIMELINE & SUMMARY

Mike is nasty to Henry, but then sees he has talent, so he recruits him for the Westish College baseball team.

• He helps Henry train and excel, while failing himself to get accepted to law school.
• Popping pills and feeling jealous, Mike distances himself from Henry and starts dating Pella Affenlight.
• When she tries to help Mike help Henry, Mike distances himself from her, because Mike Schwartz doesn't need help helping anyone (you got that?).
• Then Henry quits the team, but Mike continues coaching the team to reach the championship.
• Mike gets an offer for a paid position of assistant coach for Westish athletics. He initially says no, but decides to take it after winning the championship.
• And even though Pella slept with Henry, Mike gets back together with her.

Conclusion:

The situation or circumstance is the real antagonist in this novel. Henry's ego as a perfectionist is broken when he does his first mistake: when his wild throw whacks Owen in the head.

In this novel, the antagonist becomes more complex as the story moves on the road of more complexity. Hence, the situation or or circumstance is the real antagonist in this novel.