37 pages • 1 hour read
W.P. KinsellaShoeless Joe
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1982A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaChapter 1: “Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa”Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
The first chapter of Shoeless Joe begins with the narrator, Ray Kinsella, a young farmer in Iowa, telling us about his father watching a commercial league baseball game in a town in South Carolina and describing a baseball player, nicknamed Shoeless Joe. The narrator says that his father had told him that, “No one has ever been able to hit like Shoeless Joe” (1). Ray recounts how three years ago, while sitting on the verandah of his home, he heard the voice of a ballpark announcer saying, "If you build it, he will come" (1) in “scratchy Middle American” (2).Ray interprets this announcement as an instruction by a ballpark announcer to build a baseball field in one of the cornfields at his farm.Ray believes that the "he" that the voice refers to is Shoeless Joe Jackson, the Black Sox player who gained infamy for his role in a bribery scandal that brought disrepute to the 1919 World Series.
At first tempted to dismiss the two announcements and the vision of the baseball field as a crazy dream, and abandon it, Ray decides to finally build it when his wife Annie encourages him by saying, “Oh Love, if it makes you happy you should do it” (4). Ray, who has been brought up on the story of the Black Sox scandal instead of nursery rhymes, and who lists baseball as one of the loves of his life, decides to build the baseball field. However, at first, he decides just to build the left field, mostly because Shoeless Joe played left field.
Finally, after waiting for several nights, the baseball players appear in the field, including Shoeless Joe. Ray notices that Joe is the only player who appears in a clear form, while all the other players are transparent figures. Ray talks to Joe about his suspension and Joe tells him about how he felt, “Like having a part of me amputated, slick and smooth and painless” (8). As Ray is talking to Joe, Ray’s daughter, Karen, crawls into her father’s lap. Her innocence does not disturb the scene happening around her. Joe continues to tell Ray about his love for the game and asks him to finish building the entire field so that the other players can join in the game. Ray promises to finish the field with the words, “consider it done” (22).
Chapter 1 Analysis
The first chapter begins with two paragraphs devoted to Ray’s father and his worship of Joe Jackson: “Oh that man could hit. No one has ever been able to hit like Shoeless Joe” (1). These two characters also form thenovel's spiritual center.The first chapter, "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa," is a transcription ofKinsella's award-winning short story that earned him the opportunity to write the novel.Throughout the novel, as Ray tells other characters the history of his baseball field, he callshis tale, "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa."
The first sentence of the chapter establishes a sense of mystery and awe. A shroud of uncertainty surrounds Shoeless Joe’s circumstances. Shoeless Joe has no weaknesses as a baseball legend and it seems that Kinsella’s portrayal of the baseball hero is prototypical of how other baseball literature represents American sports icons.
Ray reports that three years earlier he heard a voice say, "If you build it, he will come" (1).Ray identifies the voice as that of an anonymousbaseball announcer. Ray follows the voice's advice, plows a part of his corn crop, and builds a baseball field, the repository of dreams. Through the baseball field, Ray has to fulfill not only his own dreams but also those of several other characters in the novel. As Shoeless Joe tells him, "There are others. If you were to finish the infield, why, old Chick Gandil could play firstbase, and we'd have the Swede at shortstop and Buck Weaver at third. We could stickMcMullin in at second, and Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams would like to pitch again. Doyou think you could finish center field? It would mean a lot to Happy Felsch" (16).
Rayagrees, but asks if he can get a tryout for a catcher he knows, thinking of his dead father. Joe says yes and comments, "God what an outfield. What a left field. This must be heaven"(16). Ray answers, "No. It's Iowa," but adds, "I think you're right, Joe" (17). The baseball field is symbolic of heaven, a place where people fulfill the dreams that they could not fulfill in their lifetimes.
