728 Malamud, Bernard
his citizens. Such a clear delimitation of the role
of a prince in a society requires that he meet his
obligations even if his personal values go against
his beliefs.
It has been rightly pointed out that our choices
are determined, on the one hand, by a desired course
of action, and, on the other, in the light of desired
ends. While preferences are spontaneous, choices are
deliberate and, far from being free, are determined
by facts of history as perceived in the present. The
Prince clearly registers the authorial preoccupa-
tion with certain specific ends in this context. If
the ends require dismissal of moral and ethical
considerations, the course of action would thus be
determined in the light of the ultimate goal a citizen
sets for himself and for which advice is proffered,
even if the advice is uncommon, controversial, or
even unethical. Machiavelli asserts in his Discourses:
“When the very safety of the country depends upon
the resolution to be taken, no considerations of jus-
tice or injustice, humanity or cruelty, not of glory
or of infamy, should be allowed to prevail. But put-
ting all other considerations aside, the only question
should be ‘What course will save the life and liberty
of the country?’ ”
The Prince focuses much on the failure of the
citizen to understand, accept, and fulfill his respon-
sibility to the state. A citizen prioritizes his personal
or familial needs over those of the state and acts
against the larger interest of the community. The
citizen’s failure to understand the significance of
his choices can lead to the collapse of the systemic
structure. A prince must work against these tenden-
cies, and thus act cruelly only to be kind.
Confronted with a choice, it would be assumed,
and rightly so, that the questions of metaphysical
and ethical responsibility weighed less with Machia-
velli than those involving sociopolitical and legal
obligations.
Machiavelli emerges here as an example of how
a responsible citizen must act. What he preaches
to the prince, he exemplifies with his own practice.
He projects himself in The Prince as a model of a
concerned citizen, an individual whose concern for
the state is not influenced by preconceived notions
of religion and church and natural predilection to
put himself and his family first.
The Prince was written at a time when Italy
was devastated by wars and the machinations of
foreign powers. Its author’s objective was to exhort
the Italian rulers to restore Italy’s lost glory and
create and maintain a unified state. An expression,
clear and effective, of his intention and objectives
in no uncertain terms, an unabashed and ruthlessly
mechanical attitude with which he endorses means,
fair or foul, to attain one’s political objective—has
lent the seminal work and its author a diabolical
image. Yet that image does not explain its author’s
profound understanding of the needs of the times
and the remarkable sense of responsibility with
which Machiavelli addresses the problems facing his
fragmented nation-state.
Gulshan TanejamaLamuD, bErnarD The Natural
(1952)
Bernard Malamud’s 1952 baseball novel The Natu-
ral tells the story of Roy Hobbs, whose only desire
is to be known as the greatest ballplayer who ever
lived. Set in the pre–World War II era, it invokes
the Golden Age of American sports and images of
iconic players such as Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and
Shoeless Joe Jackson.
What makes Roy Hobbs’s story unique is the
interruption in his career. As a young man, he is
on his way to a tryout with the fictional New York
Knights. After an encounter with a fictional version
of the then-greatest player, Babe Ruth, Hobbs is
shot by a psychotic female fan.
Flash forward and a 34-year-old Roy Hobbs
finally arrives in New York, contract in hand. How-
ever, the owner has brought him there to sabotage
the team for financial reasons, not to save the ailing
franchise. Hobbs’s skills are undiminished and, using
the Wonderboy bat he made from a lightning-struck
tree, he leads the struggling Knights into contention.
Tempted by the lure of money and a beautiful
woman, Hobbs goes into a slump at the plate and
agrees to take part in the sabotage of the team. In
the championship playoff game, Hobbs finally real-
izes he cannot compromise the game he loves and
strives to win. Unfortunately, the flawed hero, like
poetry’s mighty Casey, strikes out.