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Ex-Basketball Player

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Recommended: “Ex-Basketball Player” John Updike

A lot of times people get caught up in how life used to be. This leaves them in denial of their actual life. In the poem, “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike, the speaker uses an apathetic tone and alliteration, literary topic of denial to give the poem meaning, and makes it a narrative to be easy to comprehend.
The author, John Updike writes with a very apathetic tone and alliteration to show the literary topic of denial. I think the tone of the poem happens to be kind of bland. The tone seems neither exciting nor sad but just stating what has come of this ex-basketball player career, Flick. This leaves it as an apathetic tone because this poem does not try to make anyone feel a certain way. Another way the author shows denial happens …show more content…

This poem shows that just because something or someone was great does not mean they will be forever. Flick was a talented basketball player who continuously relives his glory days while working as a mechanic. This relates to many people who may have reached their fullest potential in something high school related. The author uses symbolism with basketball to show Flick reliving his past. One specific example happens when the main character, Flick dribbles the tire at the mechanic shop. It symbolizes him reliving what used to be and how he used to be. (line 22) “The term and concept of symbolism (and symbol) is so vast that it cannot even be sketched within the limits of this paper” (Wellek, 1970) Symbols seem to be everywhere, they just have to be looked for. A symbol can be something simple to something extremely complicated. The author uses personification to show how invested Flick was into basketball and how talented he was. In the poem it says, “the ball loved Flick.” (line 16) An example of personification, obviously the ball cannot love him. The author also uses repetition of the ex-player’s name, Flick. This allows them to focus on the narrative side of the poem and show that these people are the same person, the basketball star and mechanic. Updike wanted to make sure everyone knew it was the same person throughout the entire

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This illustration similarly makes use of the notion of his fantasy materializing. He feels as though he is living in a fairytale now that his childhood ambition of becoming a baseball player has come true. Later in the story, when the tone changes from joy to disillusionment, we see a difference. In order to illustrate the disparity, Updike writes: "They no longer even attempt to turn the bends when it comes to me; they simply put it down the road.

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Throughout the poem, “Ex-Basketball Player”, John Updike emphasizes the importance of preparing for any possible situations in the future. In the first stanza, the author’s use of enjambment symbolizes the beginning of Flick’s basketball career. The fluidity of the lines contrasts with the choppy basketball related terms such as corner, blocks, and cut-off which are used to support Flick’s one track mind. Even in his life after basketball, Flick sees everything through the eyes of the player he became so familiar with.

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In stanza three the ball is personified to lay emphasis on flicks skill, and a simile likens Flick’s hands to wild birds. Yet irrelevant, the lug wrench is personified in the next stanza we jumped back to the present. While “the ball loved flick” (Updike) the lug is indifferent to Flick’s skill. In the last stanza, a metaphor depicts flick as standing “kind of coiled”, signifying the old basketball player within flick is still ready to spring. The last two lines liken the town of candy to former applauding audiences in the seats.

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