Analysis Of Harriet Bird In The Book 'The Natural'

The mysterious woman Why does Harriet Bird shoot Roy Hobbs? This is the core question in the book, The Natural, by Bernard Malamud. Harriet Bird, the woman who shoots Roy Hobbs, covers less than one tenth of the book. However, she is definitely a major character since she affects Roy’s entire life. Malamud depicts Harriet as a special and mystical woman. Such portrayal creates tension throughout the novel. The suspense is formed as the author describe the costume and behaviors of Harriet Bird. The suspense draws the attention of the readers while making the novel novel more intriguing and fascinating. The name, “Harriet Bird” symbolizes suspense in the story. The author chooses to call Harriet as “her” rather than her real

When Harriet first meets Roy, she wears a "dressy black dress", carrying a "skinny black hat box" with her and her hair is "a forth of dark curls". However,"her face was striking, a little drawn and pale..."(8). Malamud uses only black and white to describe Harriet. Black and white give people a sense of mystery. "The color black relates to the hidden, the secretive and the unknown, and as a result it creates an air of mystery"(Empower yourself with Color Psychology). Whenever Harriet appears in the novel, she is always related to these two colors. When Harriet invites Roy to her hotel room, the scene is also filling with black and white. "As she shut the door she reached into the hat box which lay open next to a vase of white roses on the table and fitted the black feathered hat on her head"(32). This is not a coincident. From these scenes, we can see that Malamud shapes Harriet in terms of color. The color Malamud uses to describe Harriet create a mysterious mood in the brain of the readers of Harriet unconsciously. Therefore, this successfully creates the surreptitious image of

It 's opened out of curiosity, relaxing the most evil element on earth. Similarly, as the box was introduced at the beginning. It 's very mysterious, particularly because it 's owned by the anonymous character, Harriet Bird. This is a signal to readers that once the black box is opened, there 's a drastic change in Roy 's life. Harriet Bird is like a Pandora 's box, which is really tempting to Roy. For example, she dress up in an extremely sexy way. According to the book, she "naked under the the gossamer she wore, held up on her risen nipples and the puffed wedge of hair beneath her white belly"(32). Harriet was dressed in really little clothes. The attractive side of Harriet lures Roy, as if leading him to open the Pandora 's box. Danger is approaching Roy. Pandora 's presence is the main reason causing the miracle of Roy in the future. Without Harriet, the story will not be as