Ex-Basketball Player Mini Paper

In the poem "Ex-Basketball Player" the author John Updike asserts the theme that some people spend their entire lives remembering the past instead of focusing on their present future. The character in the poem, a man named Flick Webb use to be a very good basketball player in high school. He seems to be caught up in what he was and not what he is now. His life is just passing by him because he is stuck in the past and not focused on what he is doing in his life now. He floats around on his job and also with his friends, but Updike only states one of them, Mae. Updike makes his theme clear with the tone of the poem. He makes it seem calm but at the same time the poem is depressing because the reader feels pitty for Flick and how his life has changed. Updike uses many other literary devices in the poem to make the theme clear also.“His hands were like wild birds” (18) this is a simile explaining that Flick’s hands were graceful and free, yet in control like how Flick was with the basketball. “Idiot pumps” (7) the gas pumps are idiots standing motionless and oblivious while Flick dribbles and works around them, this metaphor again symbolizes Flick remembering his basketball days. Updike also uses personification to convey the theme,“The ball loved Flick" (16) this shows how close Flick was with his love of basketball. All the literary devices in the poem show the reader how Flick is feeling and give the reader an intake on Flicks everyday life.