Bang the Drum Slowly: Review
Mark Harris' 1956 novel Bang the Drum Slowly is a novel about the redemptive power of baseball, much like the movie "Field of Dreams" or "The Natural." The novel depicts a year in the career of the New York Mammoths, a now-nonexistent baseball team, and the relationship between the star southpaw pitcher, Henry Wiggen, and the lackluster catcher Bruce Pearson. Wiggen and Pearson have never got along particularly well, because Wiggen is irritated by Pearson's slow wit and even slower ball play. However, when the catcher learns he is dying, the formerly caustic pitcher finds unexpected reserves of compassion within his soul. Despite his usually cool and distant manner, Wiggen unexpectedly demands that Pearson be kept on the team and has it written into the pitcher's own contract, when he hears the catcher is in danger of being cut. The confidence his action gives Pearson invests new life in both Wiggen's and Pearson's efforts and the team, and
Wiggen is not saintly-he wants money and negotiates good deals for himself, and he is very ambitious. This is why Wiggen and Pearson do not connect as pitcher and catcher at first. The ballplayers in the book swear, ogle and chase women, and make fun of Pearson. When the Mammoths believe in their ability to win the World Series, they do, and they stop blaming one another for failures and instead stay focused on the ultimate prize, knowing that they will not achieve it unless they achieve it together. Eventually, of course, the team owner hears about Pearson's condition and tries to change the terms of Wiggen's contract. Only when the ballplayers treat Pearson with respect, regardless of their original impressions of him as a country bumpkin, do the Mammoths achieve greatness. Pearson lacks this type of drive at first, because he is not treated like a full member of the team. the team begins to shine and climb to the top of the league. As players begin to show more respect to Pearson, his game grows better and better. In addition to his athletic prowess Wiggen is a man of great self-confidence. Baseball is ultimately about teamwork, the book illustrates, not about self-serving fireworks. The book is also a lesson in self-confidence that transcends baseball. Wiggen honorably refuses, and the team goes all the way to the World Series, although before he can 'make it all of the way' the catcher has to leave the team because his condition has taken a turn for the worse. Believe you are great and you will become great.
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Acceptance Essays
