Essay Questions

Why is Walt Whambold such an important part of the beginning of the story?

Roy Hobbes, the main character of the book, is on a train with the character Walt Whambold, a feared and terrific pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Roy is looking to get a job in the baseball business, but internally fears that he cannot compete with Roy. However, Harriet, a beautiful woman, gets him a bit more motivated. Behind Roy's back, Sam bets The Whammer that Roy can strike him out, and Roy has no option but to continue on with the bet. Winning, Harriet falls in love with him.

Later in the story, we don't see any more of Whambold, but he was important to the rising action of the story. After Harriet "falls in love" with Roy, she comes to his house, pointing a gun at him and threatening his life. If it was not for the character of Walt Whambold, who also got us accustomed to how brutally competitive baseball can be, Roy likely would not have shown the best of his abilities, and therefore not had a baseball career.

Why does the author suddenly skip fifteen years of Roy's life?

Although it may be annoying, the author decided to write the story of Roy's life with a huge gap. Stopping abruptly when Harriet shoots Roy, this is likely symbolic of an era that Roy does not remember - therefore he does not explain it. The abrupt change to a later period in Roy's life may also have been a literary tool installed by the author to build up suspense - was Roy hospitalized all those years? No one knows. Suddenly showing up at one of the worst teams in baseball after a seemingly unsuccessful life, fifteen years has changed Roy, and, through the author's way of writing, we see just how much.

What is the purpose of the long-lasting rivalry between Bump Bailey and Roy Hobbes?

Although it might not be obviously apparent, the rivalry between Bailey and Hobbes is a major contributor to one of the larger themes of the novel. As the two play pranks on each other, a system develops in which one wants to do better than the other. Throughout this process, the Knights, the team that both play on that also happens to be one of the worst teams in baseball, get significantly better. The author was likely trying to explain that, although it may seem bad, rivalry is a large driver of human emotion, and without it, we would have little need to get better. In a world without this type of competition, there would be no real improvement, and, symbolically, the Knights would remain the worst team in baseball.