Plot
The plot of this story is fairly slow in comparison to the length of the piece. A lot of time is spent discussing Shoeless Joe's past of climbing the ranks of baseball, his scandalous downfall, and the fallout from that dirty deed. Still, it is kept interesting because, throughout the work, the author, W.P. Kinsella, ties Shoeless Joe's story to the personal story of the main character, Ray Kinsella. Even though the story is set up to be about a man and his relationship with a baseball field (watering it, protecting it, nurturing it), it ends up being much more about the man's relationship to baseball and the effect one man had on that relationship. " 'I loved the game... I'd have played for food money. I'd have played for free and worked for food. It was the game, the parks, the smells, the sounds.'(519) " Here, Shoeless Joe is describing his love of baseball, which is really what the plot of the story ultimately reveals.
Point of View
This short story is told from the point of view of Ray Kinsella. It is a first-person narrative, which contributes a lot to the storyline. "As he spoke, I instantly envisioned the finished product I knew I was being asked to conceive (511)." Ray Kinsella is an Iowa farmer, a family man, and a baseball fanatic. By W.P. Kinsella putting him in the narrative position, it gives the audience a deeper look into the mental workings of Ray. If it were told by another person in the story, one of the mior characters, one would never really know why Ray is building the field or talking to what is arguably a ghost on seemingly randomly built baseball field. The only other way to know why he does these things would be to for the narrator to ask him, which would take away from the bare bones of the story.
Characterization
In this story in particular, there are far more minor characters than there are major, as it is in most good stories. Ray and Shoeless Joe are the leading characters. Ray can really be characterized by his passions in life - family and baseball. He is really not too concerned with much else. " 'Consider it done,' I say, hardly thinking of the time, the money, the backbreaking labor it entails (521)." Ray was never too interested in a career. He originally moved to Iowa to follow one of his passions - his wife. Ray is very similar, but he is driven by one single thing - baseball. " 'Years and years later, I'd wake in the night with the smell of the ballpark in my nostrils and the cool of the grass on my feet. The thrill of the grass...'(518) " At one time, Shoeless Joe had been motivated by money, which led him to make the biggest mistake of his life. From that point on, he dedicated it tobaseball. I struggle with the idea that Shoeless Joe really came to Iowa to see some dinky field that a man made up based off of some sketchy apparition, so I consider him to be exactly that in this story - an apparition, but he is super meaningful nonetheless. He makes Ray realize his dream of creating a great ballpark, thereby moving the story along.
Setting
The setting of rural Iowa for the story is perfect. When one thinks of Iowa, they think farms and potatoes, so this is where the true baseball-lovers typically preside. These are raw, real men, out in the fields, working with their hands. So, by having a farmer from Iowa have this passion for baseball and its "fallen angel", the story is believable. Also, as a side note, Iowa would have plenty of free land for a baseball field to be built upon. "...but I fell in love with Iowa. Fell in love with the land, the people, with the sky, the cornfields and Annie (516)." Ray remarks a few times on the high-quality dirt that comes from the Iowa ground, so it would be perfect for the grass that would have to be put down and the care that would have to go into creating the field.
Theme
The main theme of this story is passion. If there is an abundance of one thing, it is this. Ray feels passion for his family, his state, and the game of baseball. "I watch Annie looking out. She is soft as a butterfly, Annie is, with an evil grin and a tongue that travels at the speed of light (516)." In every word of description Ray uses for his wife and daughter, there is affection. Even when pointing out her evil grin, he makes it sound as if he enjoys her evil side. To him, she can do no wrong. It is similar with Shoeles Joe. He threw a baseball game, which one would think to be a detrimental blow to a baseball fanatic like Ray, but his passion for Shoeless Joe overrode everything, and, in his mind, Joe was the victim of a greedy world.
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