Adversity In George Orwell's The 1936 Olympic Games

Synopsis

Joe grew up in Sequim, Washington during the Great Depression. From the start, Joe’s happy childhood is snatched from his grasp with his mother’s death. His life continues to run off the rails when his brother and father marry a set of twins and his new half-siblings are born. His stepmother’s cruelty to him and his father’s supposed ignorance of it begin the development of Joe’s trust issues. His only remaining family abandons him in a half-built house in the rainy swamps of Sequim, as they look for a better life in Seattle. Here, the exposition is set; lonely years on his own, with only his solitary, and largely self-reliant mind to keep him company. Adversity is an influential tool that has the power to sculpt a life into one of poverty and struggle, or carve a pathway to success. Joe begins his journey mourning the loss of his old life, and fiercely determined to make a better one for himself. In his effort to improve his circumstances, Joe learns that much like how the water that supports a boat is

both an enemy and a vital friend, the hardships of his childhood will make him stronger as he overcomes them.
The narrative hook is when Joe is discovered by Al Ulbrickson, varsity coach of the Washington crew, while working out in the gym. Joe is just the four-leaf clover Ulbrickson is looking for; a spark that seemed to come from the most unlikely of places. This seemingly unsuspecting, reclusive young man had potential, and the Washington coach yearned to foster the spark to a flame, and eventually a fire. Ulbrickson is looking for rowers with the potential for the raw power he hopes to train into nearly super-human stamina. But in addition to those qualities is perhaps the most important in the sport itself, and the coach saw that flicker in Joe. This chance will turn out to be the most significant high-point in Joe’s life for a long while. Soon, Joe begins his first rowing season, unaware that the social, moral, and spiritual values of the sport, and more importantly, the people, will change his life forever. He is placed in the junior varsity boat composed of all sophomores, and almost immediately it is clear that they are destined for greatness. George Pocock, the soon-to-be internationally recognized boatbuilder, offers some significant advice to Joe early in his rowing career. Pocock tells Joe that in order to succeed in rowing, he must completely and utterly trust in his teammates. He must throw himself into each stroke as if he is hurling himself off a cliff, without hesitation, with the faith that his teammates with be there to catch him. Joe and the rest of his boat att
willpower and the intellectual capacity necessary to master the details of technique. and the ability to disregard his own ambitions, and to pull. not just for glory, but for the other boys in the boat.
The rising action takes place as the junior varsity crew begins to become part of their boat; they improve their technique, find their vital swing, and begin to trust in each other. They dominate each race they participate in, with total confidence in one another and their abilities. Joe starts shows impressive strength both mentally and physically in his ability to recede from his past and better his life through rowing. His willingness to undergo pure pain and immeasurable discomfort in an attempt to touch the divine state of perfect rowing is clear proof that his rough childhood transformed him. With Joe’s willingness to withstand pain and his ever-growing determination, the boat’s strength and endurance in both head and heart foster a special respect among their boat. Facing up against California and some more prestigious eastern crews, it becomes imperative that Joe and his boat maintain their cooperative effort and row their hearts out. And they do just that, winning the deciding race for the 1936 Olympics and earning a chance to be America’s team.
The 1936 Olympic Games were quite relevant for obvious reasons, and the events taking place during the games had a tremendous impact on the climax of the book and the Games themselves.

Propaganda and Nazi rule surrounded the team, and the pressure piled on for their qualifying race. At the start line, their coxswain missed that start call, and they began almost two strokes behind - a massive loss in a race like this. Strategically playing the underdog, Washington stayed back, at a low stroke rate but with powerful strokes, slowly digging their way upwards. With a ghostly, pneumonia-stricken stroke seat, it was a wonder they made it past the halfway mark, but this sliver of time was all they had. In the last twelve hundred meters, they made their sprint, pulling across the finish line six-tenths of a second ahead of the Italian boat. And that is how Joe and his eight teammates won gold, forever immortalized as America’s team in the 1936

Olympics.
The falling action is the closing ceremony and Joe’s reflection on his life so far. The ceremony marks the end of a significant Games, in which Germany put on a brilliant face to mask the ugly truth of their country, and fooled the world. Joe spends that evening fondling his medal and gathering his thoughts on himself and his life.
In the resolution, Joe begins to feel whole. The connection Joe and his boat have transcended physicality - it was almost beyond definition. Their shared experience of pulling together as one brought them closer together than any of them had ever been to someone. Joe realizes that the bond requires a certain level of trust and unquestionable faith, and that he developed that with these men, essentially filling in that gaps in his heart left by hardship in his past.

Theme

The theme in The Boys In The Boat is connection. Rowing requires a strong physical connection, meaning the rowers row in a continuous and unbroken cycle in precisely the same manner. But more importantly the connection between the rowers in a boat, who swing perfectly together as if in a trance, willing to endure excruciating, burning agony to pull their weight, and trust in you to do the same. Pulling together as one with unquestionable faith in every member; a connection of the mind, heart, and being. Al Ulbrickson knows that to build the ultimate dream crew, the trick is “to find which few of them had the potential for raw power, the nearly super-human stamina, the indomitable willpower, and the intellectual capacity necessary to master the details of technique. And which of them, coupled improbably with all those other qualities, had the most important one: the ability to disregard his own ambitions, to throw his ego over the gunwales, to leave is swirling in the wake of his shell, and to pull, not just for glory, but for the other boys in the boat” (Brown 23) More than just power and fitness, rowing is a sport that has a huge mental aspect. Sacrifice, trust, and respect fuel a team, fuel a boat, almost more so that raw power alone.
In addition, Joe was a lucky find for Ulbrickson. Joe’s self-reliance in his early years in needing to fend for himself helped him appreciate the value in anything unexpected, even if it seemed worthless. He learned that “if you simply kept your eyes open, it seemed, you might just find something valuable in the most unlikely of places. The trick was to recognize a good thing when you saw it, no matter how odd or worthless it might at first appear, no matter who else might just walk away and leave it behind” (Brown 37). Joe was left behind by his only family, left by his father to live alone in his childhood, but he proved himself later in life. The death of his mother and abandonment by his father and stepmother only fuel his quest to win gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Joe makes Ulbrickson’s interest worth it; rather than escape his past entirely, and utilizes the pain and frustration he feels in an effort to improve his circumstances and possibly prove to his father that he can survive on his own.
Overall, through symbolism and inference, it is obvious that connection is the theme of this book. Whether the strains of physical connection needed to maintain proper technique, or the emotional bonds Joe and his teammates formed, or the lack of connection between him and his father, connection surrounds Joe’s life.