The Boys In The Boat Sparknotes

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The Boys in the Boat is the story of how 9 American boys went from University of Washington freshman to Olympic Gold medalists. The 1936 Olympics took place in a Hitler controlled Germany and with the defeat of the Germans, American heroes were born. The underdog tale was hard to put down and had the reader rooting for Americans every step of the way. The Boys in the Boat is a modern classic because it tells the story of how 9 working-class boys beat the odds and how they found hope in the most desperate of times. In addition, the author, Brown, writes about the unlikely quest in a provocative setting that drives reader’s emotions from start to finish. The Boys in the Boat is a modern classic because allowed for 9 improbable boys from the …show more content…

The story takes place during Hitler’s ruling in Germany and tells how Hitler had unprecedented sport facilities built. At first, Hitler did not want anything to do with the Olympics being held in Germany. “The very heart of the Olympic ideal - that athletes of all nations and races should commingle and compete on equal terms - was antithetical to his National Socialist Party’s cored belief: that the Aryan people were manifestly superior to all others.” (Daniel James Brown 19-20) Hitler had a change of attitude after his right hand man Dr. Joseph Goebbels showed him the immense propaganda power the Olympics held. As the story moves on, it goes into depth how Hitler covered up the inhumane treatment of the Jews and how he successfully won the worldwide approval for the 1936 Olympic Games. He fooled the United States Olympic Committee along with many others. The book’s setting place an important role in the story because it is a symbol for how hard the boys had to work and how tough they had to be to go into Germany and win in front of Hitler. The books closes with the final Olympic race and it paints of vivid picture of Hitler himself and the race tightened. “On the balcony of Haus West, Hitler dropped his binoculars to his side. He continued to rock back and forth with the chanting crowd, rubbing his right knee each time he leaned forward.” The setting builds Germany up has an untouchable authority and shows the weakness of the regime after the race. This book is very important because tells the history of a worldwide event in an inspiring way that boils down to a basic David versus Goliath

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