The Boys In The Boat, written by Dan Brown and published in 2013, focuses on rowing players who got gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In particular, “chapter 2” is about Joe Rantz’s childhood and history of his family, one of gold medalists of 1936 Berlin Olympics.
The term “Milagro” in the movie entitled “Milagro Beanfield War” is a Spanish word which means “miracle”. Miracle is such an interesting word which can convey different meaning to us. Some people do not believe in miracle as they feel that miracles are acts beyond the nature of laws, but some people do. Nevertheless, in this movie, miracle plays a vital role in helping the poverty-stricken Hispanic community in Mexico to fight against the aristocratic developer. The developer thought they’ll be able to develop the lands without much protest from the community due to its jurisdiction of the local water rights. However, the developer’s efforts to expand the lands are thwarted. No one can predict the insurmountable amount of miracles that transpired
Throughout my life, I have faced adversity everywhere I go, no matter what I do. So when people tell me that they have had a rough day, my favorite thing to tell them is, “Remember that adversity builds a man.” This philosophy has carried me a long way, and most importantly has allowed me to grow into the individual I am today. One of my biggest personal accomplishments, which was being able to play college baseball, was spurred on because an upperclassman told me I would never be good enough to play high school varsity ball. I proceeded by taking that player’s starting job the next year.
Daniel James Brown, the author of The Boys in the Boat, uses Joe Rantz’ story to symbolize the way America was able to find hope in a time of hopelessness and despair in the world-the Great Depression, and Nazi Germany. Joe Rantz was kicked out of his home at a very young age, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Joe’s mom, “Thula exploded in the face of what she saw a lax discipline...she would not live under the same roof as Joe...went back upstairs and told [Harry’s] only son he would have to move out of the house. Joe was ten” (Brown 36). Joe’s life had changed right before his eyes, just like a lot of Americans lives and the Jews in Germany during the early 1930s. Millions of people were displaced during the tumultuous times of the
In the face of adversity, what causes some individuals to fail while others prevail? Many people face difficulties. Depending on the person’s strength some will get through tough times, but some will fail to overcome them. I have chosen two books: Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Book Thief. These two stories deal with people overcoming the difficulties they face throughout their life. Some difficulties include racism, religious discrimination, and dealing with others’ cruelness or kindness.
The term “Milagro” in the movie entitled “Milagro Beanfield War” is a Spanish word which means “miracle”. Some people do not believe in miracle as they feel that miracles are acts beyond the nature of laws, but some people do. Nevertheless, in this movie, miracles play vital roles in helping the poverty-stricken Hispanic community in Mexico to fight against the aristocratic developer who thinks that they’ll be able to develop the lands without much protest from the community due to its jurisdiction of the local water rights. However, the developer’s efforts to expand the lands are thwarted. No one can predict the insurmountable amount of miracles that transpired in the village actually do much help in abetting the villagers to fight for their rights. In this movie, miracle means hope for continuation of life, ability to attain goals and purposes, and the ability to survive under dangerous circumstances in the
The boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, takes the reader through the life of one of the main characters named Joe Rantz. The reader follows Joe through his highs and lows he endures throughout the story. Joe is a very determined, strong, and eager young man. He is six feet and two inches, a freshman, strongly built, blonde, with gray-blue eyes (Brown, 12). Joe continues to pursue in rowing even though he had to undergo some treacherous weather during his rowing practices. Determined, focused, and brave, Joe continued on with rowing. “The girls in the library lawn who had glanced appreciatively his way had had to overlook what was painfully obvious to him: that his clothes were not like those of most of the other students..” (Brown, 13). Based off the quote you can conclude that Joe didn’t have the newest clothes but he continued to go to school despite the fact he was a little different from his peers.
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant” (Horace). The idea that hard times elicit the development of certain aspects of a character, whether good or bad, is prevalent in literature, particularly The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Horace’s assertion is true in regard to the two texts in that they both contain characters who develop maturity and mercy, a new self-awareness, and cunning duplicity.
What is progress? How do we measure progress? Who has the answers for these questions? Tony Kushner’s Angels in America helps give the reader insight on these questions. Through the use of characters that he creates in his play, Kushner is able to help kindle the curiosity in the reader and helps generate thinking. In the case of Joe Pitt; whether he did or didn’t progress can be debated. Kushner started off the play by placing Joe in a loving relationship with a wife, in which major communication problems existed. Joe then seems to slowly lose everyone and everything by the end of the book, from an outsider’s perspective. Although Joe seems to lose all of his material possessions by the end of the play, Kushner portrays Joe as progressing emotionally through his change in behavior and habits.
In life, adversity can be a positive or negative, but by definition, adversity means hardship or struggle. Everyone has faced adversity at one point or another, good or bad. Through American history and still today, everyone has faced adversity. Certain groups of people have faced more adversity than others because they have been oppressed due to race and religion, among other things. Adversity breaks one down until they can be broken no more, and although adversity has a negative connotation, overcoming adversity can make one stronger, turning it into a positive.
The roman poet Horace once wrote “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” I believe that Horace’s quote about adversity eliciting talents, is correct. While there may be some outliers to this assumption, I assume that there would not be many.
The book shows many aspect of betrayals happened to the characters in the story. Linda, whitey, Geraldine -Joe’s mother-, and Joe, each one of them had exposure to betrayal in their own way. However Joe -the main character- in the story faced many of betrayals from his father or the tribal authorities. Those betrayals had influenced in his actions and behaviors.
Native Americans have always been persecuted when the Europeans came to the continent of North America. They have been always pressured to assimilate to the white culture. Many resisted, while others chose to give their way of life up. For the people caught in the middle, one can see that Joe from Louise Erdrich’s novel, The Round House, is frequently caught between the ways life. This struggle to maintain balance can be seen through his religious life, and through Joe’s moral compass.
The quote "Within the hearts of men, loyalty and consideration are esteemed greater than success." by Edwin Louis Cole does not stray far from the truth. Had Simon not cut the rope and remained loyal to Joe, the mountaineering community wouldn't have even known of their adventures. Regardless, Simon had a right to cut that rope, as both likely would've died if he had not cut it, Joe was already badly injured (making his survival rate little to nothing), and saving one's self over another is physiologically wired into the human brain; it's expected from a human.
This case was a tough one for me to read as my grandma had schizophrenia, so my view point is a little bias. But I put my views aside in order to do research and answer these questions. I believe legally that Joe should not be able to make his