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Gagarin Influence On American Culture

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Intro. It can be argued that the greatest effect on Soviet culture’s post-Great Patriotic war is Yuri Gagarin. The young man who on April 12, 1961 became the first man in space and to circle the Earth in the Vostok rocket. And when he returned to earth “was born twice, there was his original, physical birth in 1934, and his second birth as a public figure in 1961.” The event is also a prime example of how technology has played a crucial role in international relations. Yuri Gagarin is deemed as a hero and nation icon still in the Russia today. To understand the significance of the Gagarin’s accomplishment, it is important to look at the historical Soviet Space program and important figures that culminated in Gagarin’s galactic feat.
Origins from the Great Patriotic War. The background of the space advancement was neither the Soviets nor the …show more content…

Today Gagarin’s public image in modern culture “is remembered for most is his smile." Gagarin was a cultural phenomenon, “the years following he became a sex symbol, motivational speaker, politician, beloved hero, son of the motherland- and ultimately a martyr.” His achievement is reflected in his status of a celebrity and “the most recognizable visage in the Soviet Union.” Gagarin did struggle with being such a celebrity revealed in numerous personal journals. “Perhaps the greatest paradox about Gagarin was he became the most famous figure in Soviet Life, yet his real life was kept a secret in Soviet life.” Gagarin struggled with alcoholism and family troubles through the end of his life. Unfortunately, Gagarin was killed on March 27, 1968 in a routine airplane training accident when Gagarin failed to deploy his parachute despite famously doing it years before. Gagarin was honorably buried in Red Square and the “the two-page accident report was only just released in 2011.” A KGB investigation showed “the missing Plexiglas in the canopy meant that something must have hit the cockpit before the

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