"The First Kiss" Analysis

In the excerpt from his essay "The First Kiss", American novelist John Updike illustrates the thrilling adventure of the start of the new baseball season by detailing the events of the previous season as well as the fans passionate attitude as the new season begins. He mentions the past errors and faults of different teams and the new ambitious resolves as each team marches into the new season, specifically the Red Sox. John Updike skillfully employs literary tactics such as the symbolism of a real romantic relationship and descriptive figurative language to convey the intense push-and-pull feelings that fans have towards the American pastime sport, baseball, and how in spite of the mistakes made in the past, the supporters still choose to return to their bittersweet love.

Mentioned throughout the piece, Upidike's figurative representation of the ardent fans is used to invoke feelings of pride with the addition of continual love that is showered towards the "twenty-five youngish men in red socks".

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Using a metaphor, the author carefully chooses to introduce the Red Sox's infamous fandom, the Fenway Faithful, as a "many-headed monster" to represent the power and force the fans to have. Additionally, Updike believes that fans "have short memories, elastic hearts, and very foolable faculties" much like the very monsters he relates to them. In other words, the author is pointing out how the fans easily let go of the bad and their love for their baseball team is easily restored. Even with the failures of their team, the Red Sox's, the Fenway Faithful are willing to tolerate mistakes with each new season although it is "a [very] hard lesson for a hungry monster to master" as they grow to be patient and immerse themselves with the joys of baseball.

To showcase the love-hate bond between the audience and the sport itself, Updike likens baseball to a romantic partnership by utilizing metaphors and similes to symbolize the reignited relationship. Within the beginning of this excerpt, he compares how the reunion of the Fenway Faithful and the Red Sox was like "the first kiss of another prolonged entanglement" with the intention to show how exciting and heart fluttering the first match of the season is for fans and players just like how a couple's first kiss is particularly memorable. However, this is not the first kiss of a beginning relationship, it is the return of two long-term lovers. Updike references the previous delights and disappointments by mentioning "[who] can forget the ups and downs of last year's fling" and how the team had "broke its monstrous big heart". Despite the clear failures of the past, with the start of a new season, fans come flocking back to their team to relive the thrill of the relations, in this case, the competition and display their undying love for the team.

Furthermore, as seen through this excerpt from John Updike's essay titled "The First Kiss", readers can see from the distinctive usage of metaphors to Baseball is considered to be an "a game of innumerable redemptions and curious disappointments, overall, "it is fun".