Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 14, 2023 June 7, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Critic Steven J. Rubin notes that Malamud, in his novels, creates female characters who "are often presented as either saviors or destroyers. Nowhere is this more evident than in The Natural. It is Roy Hobbs's fate, however, not to be able to distinguish between the two." If Memo Paris is the vacuum that sucks away Roy's energy, Iris Lemon is the life-giving force that lends him strength. Even her name evokes both her conception as a vegetative goddess and a fruitful, energy-giving force. Simply by standing up and revealing herself to Roy, she is able to revitalize his strength. Iris has so much life and fertility in her that, at age thirty-three, she is already a grandmother. But she is still young; Roy notes that she is "a girl above the waist and a woman below." At one point, seeing the red-haired Memo in a black mourning dress, Roy wonders what it would look like if the colors were switched—black hair in a red dress. This is Iris Lemon—Memo's exact opposite. But it is indeed Roy's tragic fate to misunderstand which woman he should pursue—at least until it is too late to save his baseball career and, thus, to use his natural gifts.
Please wait while we process your payment