Analyzing Daniel James Brown's The Boys In The Boat

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Gasping for a single breath, eagerly the nine boys in the Husky Clipper waited in angst to hear the results of their final race. “USA!” They had done it, the nine mostly poor, inexperienced boys of the University of Washington crew formed into unstoppable gold medalists at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Boys in the Boat, written by Daniel James Brown, was first published in 2013. Daniel James Brown retells the story in third-person omniscient. Post Great Depression, main character Joe Rantz’s story began at the University of Washington. Joe was known to be “as poor as a church mouse”. He lived alone inside an old, broken-down car. Upon his journey to begin rowing, he met coaches Tom Bolles and Al Ulbrickon. Bolles was the freshman coach of the …show more content…

They caught one another’s eye and decided to race back to the boat house. Unexpectedly, the freshman boat caught up to the varsity boat, finishing behind by a few boat lengths. Ulbrickson wrote in his sacred journal that, “it was the first real work the varsity had done”. The freshmen crew then went on to win against their greatest competitor, the University of California, who was coached by Ky Ebright. They also won as the underdog in the Eastern Regatta against a variety of wealthy, Ivy League schools. October 5th, 1934, began Part Three, “The Parts That Really Matter”, and the new session of tryouts for the UW crew team. The former freshman boat gradually fell into the sophomore boat. Joe and his teammates encountered many challenges throughout their season. They had to constantly train hard, especially against the varsity boat. Surprisingly, Ulbrickson decided to have his sophomore row as the UW varsity crew in the Pacific Coast race. Although they go up against tremendously good schools, almost appearing to lose, the sophomores pulled out a win. In the Poughkeepsie race, the sophomores were placed in the JV category, where they were victorious …show more content…

Joe was granted wise advice from George that he later implied to his rowing. “Just as a skilled rider is said to become part of his horse, the skilled oarsmen must become part of his boat,” George said, knowing that Joe struggled with trusting his other teammates. After practice each day, they talked and worked on the boats together. Over time, Joe shared his story, which led George to finally uncover the sensitivity and essence of him. Finally, Part Four “Touching The Divine” led to how Joe was promoted to the varsity boat. George encouraged Joe by his memorable words, “When you really start to trust those other boys, you will feel a power at work within you that is far beyond anything you’ve ever imagined. Sometimes, you will feel as if you have rowed right off the planet and are rowing among the stars.” The varsity crew won three championship races and the Olympic trial to advance their way to the 1936 Olympics. As their journey has always been, qualifying for the Olympics was not a simple task. In order to pay for their trip, the crew had to raise five thousand dollars a week. They asked for money wherever they went and received many donations to reach their

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