Pete Rose: Charlie In Aristotle's Poetics

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Pete Rose was an American baseball player for twenty-four years who accomplished breaking many records. During his career, Pete even managed to change the game of baseball. The game has now evolved into a more serious and competitive game. Pete grew up in a town close to Cincinnati and did not have much as an adolescent. Pete and his dad would attend the Cincinnati Reds games, making him a fan, and one day a player. His father was a football player and had an uncle that was a baseball player, which is where his athleticism came from. Throughout his childhood, Pete was always at his father’s games, either being a bat boy or water boy. Pete’s father always wanted him to give everything his all, including running which is where the name Charlie …show more content…
The story must be serious, complete, of a certain magnitude, and the audience must feel pity and fear. The story being serious refers to the tone and in contrast to light. Pete’s story is very serious due to the fact of how loved he was. When Pete chose to gamble on baseball his fans and even his enemies could not believe what he had done. No one ever imagined that someone who had done so much for the game of baseball, would one day turn their back and do the one rule that would ban them from baseball for life. Pete also could have tainted the game tremendously by betting and also being a player and manager for the team at the same time. The story being complete refers to the story having a beginning, middle, and an end. Pete began as a baseball player, then reached many records, and later decided to gamble on baseball. When it was found that he gambled on baseball he was banned which completely ended his baseball career. Another component is the magnitude of the story. Aristotle says that a story must be big enough to be understood but not too big by comparing a beautiful object which depends on magnitude and order. He states, “A very small animal organism cannot be beautiful; for the view of it is confused, the object being seen in an almost imperceptible moment of time. Nor, again, can one of vast size be beautiful; for as the eye cannot take it all in at once, the unity and sense of the whole is lost for the spectator”. With this in mind, Pete’s story is of a certain magnitude. His story is not too big or too small and is very easy to understand. The next component is if the audience feels pity for the hero. Pete had everyone convinced that he was the best, therefore baseball fans wanted him to accomplish every goal that he reached for. It was almost like he was a friend and we wanted the best for him. When he was banned people everywhere felt pity for him because they all