The poem "Ex-Basketball Player,"" written by John Updike, was clearly intended to make any reader think differently about his/her future. The poem is centered on a man, Flick Webb, who was formerly a high school basketball star and now works as a gas station attendant. The first stanza describes a road called Pearl Avenue which runs past the high school, and also parallels Flick's life. Updike reveals this particular idea in the line: "Bends with the trolley tracks, and stops, cut off Before it has a chance to go two blocks- (2-3). Here, the speaker appears to be illustrating Pearl Avenue, but in digging deeper, the reader can see he is also speaking of Flick. Before Flick was able to live his apparent dream of basketball stardom, his successes were cut short, and he never made it any farther than a gas station down the street. .
Clearly, the speaker has a reminiscent tone throughout the poem and speaks of Flick with some affection, but more or less pity: "He never learned a trade, he just sells gas- (19). This statement devalues what Flick's life has become. However, the speaker does make note that others of Flick's graduating class do remember what he once was in saying: "As a gag, he dribbles an inner tube But most of us remember anyway- (21-22). Flick dribbling an inner tube is probably not a gag to him, however. It may appear this way, but he seems to be daydreaming about his former self, longing for what might have been. His classmates may remember his agility on the basketball court, but where are his fans now? Flick can no longer depend on their praises. Had Flick passed that gas station and his high school years without looking back, he may have had a more fulfilling future. Even if Flick is so much as pitied, he is not forgotten. .
The second stanza of the poem seems most interesting to me:.
Flick stands tall among the idiot pumps ".
Five on a side, the old bubble-head style,.
