John Updike - Flick Webb

John Updike explains his story of Flick Webb very well in a this poem. In the beginning lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, he makes us visualize Pearl Avenue at the Colonel McComsky Plaza. I think the poet wants us to feel like we are walking pearl avenue and go near the trolley tracks and enter Colonel McComsky Plaza. In line 7 and 8, the poet introduces us to Flick Webb. He describes flick as a tall kid and everyone else looks like idiots next to him. It's almost as if he is saying that Flick is superior to everybody else that is on the court. Considering that the poem was wrote in 1958, you can only visualize Flick a superior looking athlete, next to some skin white kids that dont look like they have any type of athletic ability. This why I think the poet describes Flick as this tall kid and everybody else as idiots next to him. The poet even goes into detail to talk about how idiotic these other players look. He describes one player as the football player type. I have played basketball competitively for the past 8 years, and the poet so basically down talking this basketball player.

In line 13 through 18 the poet is once again talking Flicks name up. He explains to us that Flick scored three hundred ninety points which was still a scoring record in 1958. After this he says's he scored thirty-eight or forty points in one game. When the poet isn't quite sure if he scored thirty-eight or forty points, it makes me think he isn't exactly sure how many points he scored. I think the poet was beginning to really get into his own poem, and couldn't really remember exact points. This is what makes the poem really well written in the story form. The poet is so into his own story, that it makes you want to read more and never want him to stop telling the story. At the end of line 18, the poet describes flicks hands as wild bird. In basketball terms, this means that he could dribble the basketball very well. The poet is basically letting the readers on the Flick Webb was not your average everyday play, he had a lot of talent.

In line 19 through 24 the poet is telling us what happened to flick once he stopped playing basketball. He explains that Flick never developed any work field skills. All he knew was how to sell gas, Check oil, and change flat tires. When the poem transitions into this part, it almost makes you sad. In the beginning you are drawn to wanting