"For Joe, who had spent the last six years doggedly making his own way in the world, who had forged his identity on stoic self reliance, nothing was more frightening than allowing himself to depend on others. People let you down. People leave you behind. Depending on people, trusting them--it's what gets you hurt. But trust seemed to be at the heart of what Pocock said. There was a kind of absolute truth in that, something he needed to come to terms with" (237).
"Joe had been fidgety in the chair. Finally she asked him what was wrong. He'd hesitated, struggling for words, but she remembered later, the gist of it was that there was something about this race, this boat, that was different, He couldn't really explain it; he just knew he didn't want to let this bunch of boys down" (246).
"Clarence Dirks, writing for the Seattle Times, mixing metaphors with abandon, was the first to put his finger on it: "It would be useless to try to segregate outstanding members of Washington's varsity shell, just as it would be impossible to try to pick a certain note in a beautifully composed song. All were merged into one smoothly working machine; they were, in fact, a poem of motion, a symphony of swinging blades" (249).
Independent reading project about Daniel James Brown's novel The Boys in the Boat
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Themes
The main theme that is seen in this novel is: hard work and perseverance pay off in the long run.
The nine boys needed to work through terrible weather and conditions, but they all put in 100% and made it in the end.
Another theme that is touched upon is one of self preservation and independence. It shows that even though people cannot change the situations they were born into, making the best situation out of everything and taking any opportunities will pay off in the long run. For example Joe was abandoned by his family and he could have roamed the streets, but he decided to work his way through school in order to make a better life for himself. This is a very inspiring message that the author, Brown is sending. Joe, and all of the boys in the boat had the odds stacked against them, but they conquered it with optimism and never ceasing effort to do their best.
The nine boys needed to work through terrible weather and conditions, but they all put in 100% and made it in the end.
Another theme that is touched upon is one of self preservation and independence. It shows that even though people cannot change the situations they were born into, making the best situation out of everything and taking any opportunities will pay off in the long run. For example Joe was abandoned by his family and he could have roamed the streets, but he decided to work his way through school in order to make a better life for himself. This is a very inspiring message that the author, Brown is sending. Joe, and all of the boys in the boat had the odds stacked against them, but they conquered it with optimism and never ceasing effort to do their best.
Nazi Influence in the Olympics
To get ready for the Olympics, Germany "cleaned up its streets" to make it seem like they had things under control to the rest of the world. "To improve the scenery, not only the Gypsies but more than fourteen hundred homeless people had been collected and removed from the streets" (298). Germany also tried to please journalists from other countries by being given, "special accommodations, the finest equipment, the best vantage points for viewing the games, (and) free secretarial services" (298). All of these changed caused outsiders to believe that things were okay, and that Germany had flourished because of how nice the buildings and people were.
Germany also manipulated the race by implementing a "new rule" about lane assignments. "Everyone was painfully aware that the best lanes were the protected lanes close to shore: lanes one, two, and three; the least desirable were lanes five and six, out in the widest part of the Langer See. Ulbrickson was horrified and furious when he saw the lane assignments-lane one: German; lane two: Italy ...lane six: the United States of America. It was almost the perfect inverse of the order he had expected based on the qualifying times. It handicapped the most talented and fasted boats, and gave every advantage to the slower boats. It gave the protected lanes to the host country and her closest ally, and the worst lanes to her prospective enemies" (334). Politics were deeply involved in this and even though the USA was in the worst position, they still pulled through which was a shocking defeat for the Germans.
Characters
Boys in the Boat
Bobby Moch: Coxswain of the boat. Very smart and determined. He always tried to play sports growing up but he was too small to be good so being a cox was good for him. He could still compete and his size would not hinder him. He also recently found out that he was Jewish before going to Berlin, his family kept that a secret from him.
Don Hume: Stroke seat of the boat. Stroke's job is to set the pace which controls the whole boat. Don is very good but when the boys went to Berlin, he fell ill. He had to row the Olympic race with pneumonia but somehow completed it. At the end of the race he passed out after they won.
Joe Rantz: Main character of the book. He is very independent due to growing up poor and having his family abandon him at the age of 12. He is usually cast out because he is so poor- his clothes don't look nice and he eats all that he can when he is offered food. He rowed to stay in school. During the book one of the coaches realizes that something of off about him, he doesn't trust the other boys in the boat and believes he can do everything by himself. Eventually he realizes that in order to win he had to completely trust the others and row as a crew, not as individuals. Decided to row because being on the team guaranteed a part-time job somewhere on campus.
George "Shorty" Hunt: Earned his nickname by being an astonishing 6'5" tall. He is free spirited and was happy to row in any boat. He also whispered encouraging words to Joe when he was having trouble.
Jim "Stub" McMillin: Stood at 6'6" also accounting for his nickname "Stub". He rowed as hard in a losing cause as a winning one and never gave up, no matter what.
Johnny White: His father had been a sculler so he had grown up rowing.
Gordy Adam: Was very quiet, but determined.
Chuck Day: Had a tenancy to fight first and ask questions later, which helped put a spark in the boats engine.
Roger Morris: Was one of the first friends Joe had on the team.
Other Characters
<-- Al Ulbrickson: Coach of Washington's rowing program. He always inspired the boys and expected the best from them.
George Pocock: A boat builder who offered advice and wisdom to rowers. He was the one who realized that Joe's issues were caused by his lack of trust for his teammates.
Bobby Moch: Coxswain of the boat. Very smart and determined. He always tried to play sports growing up but he was too small to be good so being a cox was good for him. He could still compete and his size would not hinder him. He also recently found out that he was Jewish before going to Berlin, his family kept that a secret from him.
Don Hume: Stroke seat of the boat. Stroke's job is to set the pace which controls the whole boat. Don is very good but when the boys went to Berlin, he fell ill. He had to row the Olympic race with pneumonia but somehow completed it. At the end of the race he passed out after they won.
Joe Rantz: Main character of the book. He is very independent due to growing up poor and having his family abandon him at the age of 12. He is usually cast out because he is so poor- his clothes don't look nice and he eats all that he can when he is offered food. He rowed to stay in school. During the book one of the coaches realizes that something of off about him, he doesn't trust the other boys in the boat and believes he can do everything by himself. Eventually he realizes that in order to win he had to completely trust the others and row as a crew, not as individuals. Decided to row because being on the team guaranteed a part-time job somewhere on campus.
George "Shorty" Hunt: Earned his nickname by being an astonishing 6'5" tall. He is free spirited and was happy to row in any boat. He also whispered encouraging words to Joe when he was having trouble.
Jim "Stub" McMillin: Stood at 6'6" also accounting for his nickname "Stub". He rowed as hard in a losing cause as a winning one and never gave up, no matter what.
Johnny White: His father had been a sculler so he had grown up rowing.
Gordy Adam: Was very quiet, but determined.
Chuck Day: Had a tenancy to fight first and ask questions later, which helped put a spark in the boats engine.
Roger Morris: Was one of the first friends Joe had on the team.
Other Characters<-- Al Ulbrickson: Coach of Washington's rowing program. He always inspired the boys and expected the best from them.
George Pocock: A boat builder who offered advice and wisdom to rowers. He was the one who realized that Joe's issues were caused by his lack of trust for his teammates.
Underdogs from Washington
Normally, rowing had only been a sport for the affluent, but these boys were working class and had to scrape together money just to stay in school. Many of them took difficult jobs like drilling into a cliff and chopping wood in order to follow their dreams. (The image is an example of the work Joe did at the Grand Coulee Dam.) However, this may have had been to their advantage because they learned how to be tough. In the early days where the freshman team signed up, many kids started to drop out due to the terrible weather and toughness of the sport- notably the ones whose clothes did not have tatters or holes in them. The kids who had to struggle to make ends meet pushed through in the middle of a race, rather than giving up because it got too hard.The story of these nine boys is so incredible because they came from mostly poor, working class families and many of them had not rowed before college. They beat all odds and in the end came through to win gold through hard work and perseverance.
Bobby Moch on the podium accepting the gold medal.
Monday, March 30, 2015
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