Famous line from the 1989 Kevin Costner film Field of Dreams. The line actually originates in the book which inspired the movie, Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella.

In the movie, farmer Ray Kinsella (the author himself in the book) is working his Iowa corn field as usual when a mysterious whisper fills the air: If you build it, they will come. (In the book it is described as the voice of a "sports announcer.")

After his attempts to ignore the voice fail, Kinsella is convinced that the voice wants him to build a baseball diamond where his corn field stands. The voice then proceeds to give him more mysterious pointers ("Ease his pain", "Go the distance") which in turn lead him on a trans-American journey involving a 60s novelist, a small-town doctor with a cup of coffee appearance in the Major Leagues, and the legendary (but tainted) hitter Shoeless Joe Jackson.

The line itself has many meanings contained within it

  • when Kinsella builds the baseball diamond, the ghosts of baseball legends past, including Jackson, appear, fulfilling the prophecy directly;
  • the popularity of the diamond and its mysterious inhabitants bring tourists from all around to watch a game;
  • Ultimately, the movie is about being given a second chance - and in each of the characters (Ray, Terence Mann, Moonlight Graham, Jackson, and Ray's father) there is an epiphany that the baseball diamond is more than just a field of dreams, but heaven itself realized.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.