Daniel James Brown's Boys In The Boat

Words: 615
Pages: 3

In the 1936 Berlin Olympics the boys crew team from the University of Washington won the gold medal in the men’s crew event. Each boy from this crew team had their own remarkable story and journey of how they were able to reach the olympics. Many of these stories were shaped by the harsh conditions of the great depression and how it impacted their families and lifestyles. In Daniel James Brown’s Boys in the Boat he tells the story of Joe Rantz, which starts deep in the grasp of the great depression and its tragic effects, and eventually transforms into an incredible series of events. It is due to Joe Rantz’s expression of resilience that he is able to overcomes trials and achieves great goals. The beginning of Joe’s story starts in a dark …show more content…
During the seasons tryout it was imperative that Joe at no point in time gave up. The only way to do this would to be able to take whatever George Pocock, the shell maker, and Al Ulbrickson, one of the rowing coaches from the University of Washington crew team, would throw at him during the rigorous and intentionally spirit breaking workouts. While the workouts were taking place Joe would feel that, “the hurting was taking its toll, and that was just fine with joe. Hurting was nothing new to him (51). Due to Joe's consistent application of resilience he is completely capable of being able to call upon his resilience and push through the uncomfortable situation of that moment in the shell. Like in this moment Joe is able to express pure resilience during the final stretch at the olympics when, “Their hearts were pumping at nearly two hundred beats per minute now. They were utterly beyond exhaustion, beyond what their bodies should be able to endure” (350). Without Joe’s resilient mindset and character this final push at the olympics would have never been