Literary Devices In The Slump By John Updike

Every person experiences a moment in their life when something they once found fascinating no longer seems interesting. Additionally, throughout these times, we lose our outlook on life and confidence. Numerous literary devices are used by the author to convey the feelings of the baseball player throughout the course of the novel. The baseball player's self-esteem has declined, and the sport he once cherished no longer seems to be the same. As a result, John Updike uses literary devices like similes, metaphors, and allusions in his short story "The Slump" to depict the disillusioned baseball player's thoughts.

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. I can see it in his evil eye as he takes the sign and rears back, I can hear the catcher snicker, and for a second of reflex there I can see it like it used to be" (Updike 4). This passage shows how the tone of the

Updike employs metaphors to further clarify the speaker's internal thoughts. Updike demonstrates, "It used to come floating up with all seven continents showing" (Updike 1). This is similar to how he found baseball to be incredibly easy to learn and enjoy early in his career. Later in the narrative, the tone again becomes one of diminished confidence. As Updike demonstrates "The flutters no longer occur at the usual times. It once was " (Updike 2). This illustrates how his playing has changed since he first started. It almost seems as though his diminished self-esteem caused him to lose interest in the game he previously