The Theme Of Perseverance In The Boys In The Boat

I will be going through one central theme in a non-fiction narrative called The Boys in the Boat, written by an American author Daniel James Brown. The five central themes of this narrative are perseverance, teamwork, hope, fidelity, and discipline. The central theme I will be talking about is perseverance. Throughout this entire book there are many points of perseverance, ranging from small levels of perseverance like just making it through the day, to high levels like winning the gold at the 1936 Olympics for rowing despite all the odds that were stacked against you.

As previously mentioned, Boy's, Brown Displays an overwhelming amount of perseverance throughout the life of Joe Rantz, a boy born just a few months before the start of World

At only thirteen years of age, Joe was forced to go out on his own. Of course Joe wasn’t just out in the open all alone, he had a little guidance from his father before being sent out alone. Despite the terrible position Joe was put in he persevered. He chopped wood so that he had some sort of roof over his head, one that would provide a place to sleep. On top of that Joe helped out the local cookhouse, where he was repaid in food for his service. “...he trudged down the wagon road to the cook house” (36) This is a sort of milestone of perseverance for Joe, for this was the first big time he was set up to almost fail, just to still succeed. Another big point of perseverance in Joe’s life was when he was left behind again by his family in Sequim. During this time Joe was only fifteen years old, and had high school to attend to. So Joe was forced to yet again survive on his own, gathering money and going to school. The worst part about all this was the great depression. So Joe went through a great level of perseverance in surviving on his own, in high school, during the great depression. “... This unflagging resilience - this readiness to bounce back, to keep coming, to persist in the face of resistance…”