The Theme Of Fame In Ex-Basketball Player By John Updike Essay

The Theme Of Fame In Ex-Basketball Player By John Updike - Essay ExamplePearl Avenue in the poem symbolically represents the street to success, which is, according to the author, a hard one to follow. It has many bends and it stops and cuts off in many places, thus making it a difficult highway to traverse. Nature does endow human beings with many talents. However, all the people who are gifted with such talents do not become famous and it transpires that achieving fame is not an well-situated task. Thus, by using the symbol of Pearl Avenue, to represent the road to fame, the author contends that humans cannot attain fame easily. This is the reason why, despite being a gifted player, sky is not able to attain real fame. This is one of the main ideas that Updike wants to convey the theme of fame in this poem.In an interview, the author admits that most of his stories derive from his interest in the phenomenon of an suspensor outliving his time. In the instant case, Flick does not remain totally committed to his call. Though he is shown as a highly gifted player, whose turn over were like wild birds and whom the ball loved, he fails to maintain the cutting edge of performance, and, therefore, his fame vanishes. Thus, the author implies that simply by being talented, an athlete cannot sustain the fame. On the some other hand, he or she needs to remain dedicated to the game and continuously improve his or her performance. This is the second idea about fame that the author wants to communicate to his sense of hearing through this poem.