Analysis of The Life of a Basketball Player as Depicted in Michael Boylan’s Book, Rainbow Curve

Introduction

Race, Sports, and politics are the primary ideas expressed in the American way of life. Michael Boylan, the author of Rainbow Curve, uses a group of few individual to highlight how race as an element defined a person’s individuality. The main characters in the book are all of the different races; perhaps the author’s idea was to draw the reader’s attention to a particular era of history. Ideally, the author writes like an inspired bases ball fan. The details he captures in the book include the historical nine innings by the infamous pitcher of old days Rainbow Billy Beauchamp. The lives of baseball take center stage and essentially through the life of Bo Mellan, the left-handed pitcher protégé to the glorified Crawford pitcher. The audience gets to examine the challenges, trials and triumphs athlete endure in their illustrious sporting careers. Markedly politics and its effect on the society are given priority by the author as he shows how a mafia-like organization controlled corruption in the setting of the book. Rupert Cakos centers as the vilified Mogul who owns many enterprises in the City. He aims at using Bo to make his business popularity and charisma increased whereas al Sulami the head of Krakatowa militia group that seeks to empower the colored communities against capitalism oppression all to confront Bo on which side of the camp he is in.

The book Rainbow Curve by Michael Boylan takes place somewhere in between 1970 to 1984 when Bo first heads out with Rainbow, and his time as a major league baseball player with the Chicago Cubs 14 years after they leave America. There are many characters in the book due to story setting. However, some characters stand out. First, there is Rainbow Billy Beauchamp an old glorified right-handed pitcher, who is famous for the many historical innings he has had in his illustrious career. He takes in an orphaned kid – Bo Mellan – who grows to be his protégé who stands up to leave a legacy not just in the game but to the society in general. Rupert Cakos who is a business Mogul who owns some enterprises is given a lot of emphases, and from the writer's viewpoint, the readers get to understand how the power of one man, had an influence over millions of people living at that time. Principally, he owned the media in this case a TV station and Newspaper. Additionally, his other investments were a major league baseball team and a construction firm.

Rainbow who is a retired baseball player tries t relive his old glory days. He wants to get back into the game and gives it one more chance. His band of ‘brothers’ encompasses eleven players who are from different ethnicity. His team prides itself on having blacks, Mexicans, Whites, and Venezuelans. Together they tour the southern Americas and take the opportunity of playing in a major league for the Cubs. The retired player tries to show that age does not provide a hindrance to a person hoping to achieve his dreams. Bo Mellan as a character is the embodiment of youth, talent, passion, and mistakes as well as the element of change in the impending face of challenges. The author depicts him as a hard character that is gentle, fall in love with the wrong woman and tries his best to change the society by initiating a nonprofit organization with the intent of helping the minority and marginalized in the society. As an individual, he faces threats from a Mob and a philanthropic business mogul. Nonetheless, he shows his resilience by going against his detractors to prove that fate favors a man when he has the courage to make efforts in seeing his dreams come true. These two characters are the personification of a conventional way of life. Markedly, both al Sulami and Rupert as individuals show how power influences on the judgment of people. Their actions and corrupt dealings in the story shows how the rich in the society loves to control the multitude. Ideally, they act as the emblem of politics, which surrounds itself with power, corruption, danger and the looming uncertainty of conflicts and treachery. These characters show the aspect of how race defines an individual sporting ability and how the political machinery strives to make use of such person’s popularity for own self-gain.

By the end of the story, Bo Mellan shows just how much an individual’s effort can substantially alter the odds of society. He stands up for the good of the minority. In his community, many regard his as a hero of some sort. In truth, many see him as the mythical Robin Hood. Altogether, this character represents the sound aspect of the human nature. Though he has popularity, he still goes ahead to consider the feelings of those who are living below their means. As a character, he is the knight in shining armor as he illustrates how an individual may use their talent to change make of the society. His contributions as a person show how sports alters the lives of individuals through selflessness as in the face of danger and impending challenges he fights for the right of the people. Similarly, Rupert learns that money is not the only means to an end. While it is true that money can buy a man’s loyalty, this characters expectation does not come to fruition as he fails to buy out Bo Mellan. Al Sulami also concedes and relinquishes further attempts to threaten the talented Bo. As such, the two antagonists in the tale demonstrate that however how much power and fear can be used to silence and individual, the power of an idea triumphs all barriers as expressed int the viewpoint of the author.

Setting and the Plot

The story is set in between 1970 to 1984. The audience sees the lives that baseball players from specific communities have to endure to make their dreams come true. Notably, the era is marked by the black facing stigmatization in the sports world. In baseball, in particular, they are not a favored bunch. They have to work hard to leave up to the billing of their fans and managers alike. The use of props in the narrative makes the audience identify with an old setting. Additionally, the repetitive mention of the influence of the mob, the music, and different intercultural notions places the events to be in the last five decades.

Rainbow Curve is a narrative about sports, power, and ethnicity. It highlights the courage of two men to stand up against the challenges they face in life. Rainbow, one of the main characters, brings together a team of eleven players, who train together for bringing back glory to the major league. They move together and live in a bus while training in camps from Arizona to Wrigley’s Field in Chicago and the South America regions in Colombia. The author expertly draws connection into the American way of life of those times, with power and influence and the individual ethical choices that defines the most important moments in the lives of many people as seen through the lives of different characters in the books setting. Notably, the author depicts baseball not just as a sport, but rather an institution that involves economics, youth, and age as part of its greater mechanism.

Themes

The main ideas expressed in the book centers around three elements namely power, sports and politics. The author uses these three ideas to show people live and exist in the universe. In the era of the books setting, racists were a concept that had taken effect and affected the lives of many people. In the US alone, non-whites were significantly affected. Those who were talented in sports used their talents to give their community hope. Bo Mellan serves as an example. Through the illustrations provided, he stands out as having the interest of the people at heart. Additionally, together with Rainbow, they show that race should not be a factor that results into the occurrences of division in the society. Together with their teammates, they show that humanity stood a better chance if it were united as a people. The achievements they would make would be a phenomenon. Markedly, the narrative also captures the idea of power within the political circles and the society. Rupert shows the effects of having too much power that does not have regular checks and balances. Through his influence, a reader can understand how the society they live in best works today. On the same note, the concept of rebels in illustrated through the character Al Sulami, who fights off the powerful business mogul by trying to win over Bo Mellan who is the star protégé in the setting of the book. The author illustrates how these three themes defined the lives of many individual in the long decade that captures the plot of the stories setting.

Conclusion

The book does an excellent job in enlightening readers on the difficulties sports personality faces during their careers. It goes further on to show that while fans may appreciate the talents an individual has, they may not necessarily acknowledge their day-to-day challenges off the field. Additionally, the author does an excellent job in showing how despite not having a good love life, Bo Mellan still manages to defy the odds and help the society he was a part off. The author also shows how powerful individual with political connections can influence on just about anything they want. Rupert is seen to want it all, his obsession with possessing people seems farfetched. The author does well to illustrate the menacing impact of a powerful individual in the society. Markedly it also demonstrates the ability of people to stand up for what they believed was good and ethical. Overall, the book shows the importance of sports in the society, attributes of race in social settings and the effects of power on people as documented in the paper.