Star Basketball Player By John Updike - 1026 Words

In the poem Ex-Basketball Player, John Updike recounts the timeline of a once great basketball player named Flick Webb. The journey starts with a description of Flick’s hometown, then shares details about his current job, next it reflects on his high school basketball success, and finishes with his habits outside of work. In the first stanza, the poet is describing the town where Flick lives. Updike references trolley tracks which would imply an early 20th century setting. He also calls out the name of the garage specifically, Berth’s Garage. This implies that Flick lives in a small town because small towns named their gas stations after the owner, unlike big cities. In the third stanza, he talks about Flick playing high school basketball. Updike goes on to mention that in one season he scored three hundred and ninety points, a county record. The third stanza talks about how magnificent Flick was at basketball. The narrator indicates that he witnessed at least one such game when he noted, â€Å"I saw him rack up thirty-eight or forty in one home game† (Updike, 17-18). The countermotion of the poem occurs in the fourth stanza, which starts out by stating, â€Å"He never learned a trade, he just sells gas† (19). In this line of the poem, Updike reveals the tone of the narrator as sad and disappointed. With no education to fall back on, when a professional basketball career does not come about, Flick spends his life working at a gas station. The former player’s current life is describedShow MoreRelatedJohn Updikes Poem Ex-Basketball Player1225 Words   |  5 Pages Ex-Basketball Player Most everyone has had an extraordinary dream; for some, it is to be a movie star or to be on a professional sports team. Nevertheless, while great goals they are, they are not likely. For example, about 1 and 70,000 people become a major movie star (study.com). Additionally, the likelihood of entering the NBA from high school is 3 and 100,000 (ehow.com). Therefore, the great majority are obligated to find something else to pursue. As a result of peoples dreamsRead MoreEx-Basketball Player by John Updike Essay1044 Words   |  5 Pagesin high school that was the star of the basketball team? He still holds most of the records for the team. He scored more points than anyone else in the school’s history. He never studied much because he was an athlete. His basketball skills were going to take him places. But high school ended and there are no more games to be played. Where is that former all-star now? In his poem â€Å"Ex-Basketball Player,† John Updike examines the life o f a former high school basketball star. Flick Webb was a local heroRead MoreAn Acclaimed And Award-Winning Writer Of Fiction, Essays,1141 Words   |  5 Pagesessays, and reviews, John Updike also wrote poetry for most of his life. Born and raised in Shillington, Pennsylvania in 1932-died on January 27, 2009. Luckily, he was accepted to Harvard College and graduated in 1954. This is what turned his life around. After school was done, he worked for a few years on the staff of The New Yorker. When his writing abilities were finally noticed, he got the idea to start writing poetry and short stories. One poem he wrote was â€Å"Ex basketball player† its about an excellentRead MoreDownfall Of A Star By John Updike965 Words   |  4 PagesDownfall Of A Star In John Updike’s poem, â€Å"Ex-Basketball Player,† Updike, an American novelist and poet born in 1932, best known for his â€Å"Rabbit† series, tells the story of an American tragedy when he describes the life of Flick Webb, a once high-school basketball star turned gas attendant. This poem is narrated by an unknown voice, but sounds like a local who knew of Webb’s significance in high school. Webb went from a successful high-school basketball star to a gas station attendant. Updike’sRead MoreAn Analysis Of John Updikes Ex Basketball Player1216 Words   |  5 Pagesabout 0.03% of high school basketball players get drafted out by an NBA team. 0.03% is such a little percentage that it is the same chance of someone getting four of a kind in a first round of poker (www.norwichcsd.org/Downloads/ ProSportsOdds.doc). With this striking percentage it is amazing to think so many young players hope to make it to the pros. In the end, regret and defeat are much too common, a theme that John Updike features in his poem, â€Å"Ex Basketball Player†. The poems persona, FlickRead More Ex – Basketball Player Essay1084 Words   |  5 PagesIn the poem, â€Å"Ex – Basketball Player† by john Updike, (which is a narrative poem) illustrates the nature of life on how life is potentially is seen has a mirror to other people’s life, especially people who play sports. Life is the physical and mental experience of an individual. An in the poem the main character Flick, supply the poem with a good example of how life is potentially a mirror for other people. This poem is formally organized, even though it locks some qualities, it still haves theRead More The Game of Life in Rabbit, Run Essay2407 Words   |  10 Pages   In John Updikes novel, Rabbit, Run, the protagonist, Harry Rabbit Angstrom lives his life by the rules of the game of basketball.   Rabbit is a man who has, until the beginning of the book, pla yed by societys rules.   But Rabbits ambivalence is different from that of those around him; he has trouble communicating, and as a result he is often misunderstood and is constantly frustrated by the actions and expectations of others (Regehr).  Ã‚   In high school, Rabbit was a first rate basketball playerRead MoreLiterary Review of Rabbit Run by John Updike Essays3013 Words   |  13 PagesLiterary Review of Rabbit Run by John Updike John Updikes novel, Rabbit, Run, is about a man named Harry â€Å"Rabbit† Angstrom. Rabbit is a brainless guy whose career as a high school basketball star peaked at age 18. In his wifes view, he was, before their early, hasty marriage, already drifting downhill. We meet him for the first time in this novel, when he is 22, and a salesman in the local department store. Married to the second best sweetheart of his high school years, he is the father