Casey At The Bat Poem Analysis

As Casey walked up with style and pride, the crowd cheered loudly. He was showing hubris, and to show hubris means to show overwhelming pride. Casey’s hubris showed greatly as the crowd cheered him on, ultimately causing him to feel overly cocky and fail.
For instance, the audience cheered for Casey, making them come off as responsible for his overwhelming pride. Also, he purposely missed the first ball. In stanza 5 it says, “Then from 5,000 throats...For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.” Next, as Casey advanced to the bat, the way he acted showed hubris. In stanza 6 it states, “There was ease in Casey’s manner...No stranger in the crowd could doubt ‘twas Casey at the bat.” As explained in the quote, Casey acted very confidently as he walked over with a smile on his face and not visibly showing any nervousness. If anything, the cheers from the audience made him feel less nervous and more confident, leading everyone to believe that he would win the game. Knowing that, it only shows that he was being cocky.

In stanza 7 line 28 it states, “Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.” And in stanza 8 lines 31-32 it states, “...”That ain’t my style,” said Casey.

“Strike one,” the umpire said.” Casey’s facial expression showed that he was full of pride as he continued to let the ball fly past him. As Casey advanced to the bat, he was cheered for and he let the first ball pass on purpose. In stanza 10 line 40 it states, “But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “strike two.”” Casey showed hubris when he let the ball fly by the second time. As the ball was thrown, Casey smirked and watched it go by as if he meant to on purpose. Because he ignored the ball, it only meant he was being cocky and he expected to hit on his last chance. On his last hit, he became serious about it. However, he missed it. Due to Casey being cocky, the game was

lost.
Some might argue that the entire thing was strictly bad luck and Casey was only being confident. When Casey missed the ball the first two times, he played it off confidently. “The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;” stated in stanza 10, line 40. However, the fact that Casey waited two strikes to finally swing was not bad luck.
Even though the crowd cheered for him at first, he later became a disappointment in their eyes. After missing the first two throws purposely, he had missed the last throw in which he was actually aiming to hit. In the end, Casey’s hubris ultimately caused him to fail.