The story of "The Natural" has many different aspects of tragedy, especially in the lives of three characters; Roy, the miraculous baseball player, Sam, the scout looking for the ideal team, and Pop Fisher, the coach and part owner of the Knights. The tragedy aspects that take place within these characters are all loosing their one major dream. They all also have slight familiar interconnections with the other. For Roy's life there are many female individuals that influence his way of life heavily. This book does not have a "Hollywood" ending.
Roy's life is packed with tragic events from his youth all the way up to his heartbreaking career finale. When Roy was young, his father had a heart attack and died in front of Roy's eyes. He kept his ball playing up and was founded by a scout who was going to take him to Chicago to play professional baseball, but Sam's drinking problem killed him before they made it.
Roy checks into a hotel and gets a call from an attractive girl he met on the train ride and goes to meet her in her room. She shoots him as soon as he enters, just as she had done to other great athletes. He is cut down in the prime of his starting career.
He gets back to the game many years later, but his age has a stricken on him. He finally gets to play and is amazing but, he goes into a huge slump where he lost all support, and he met another conniving girl. She only wanted him for his ability to provide and took him on an emotional roller coaster, which led him into a slump, and eating him self sick. In his attempt to save the rest of his life he takes money...