The Olympics are a time for countries to come together and compete peacefully in sporting events. However, the Olympics have not always been a peaceful environment. The 1936 Olympics is a perfect example of this. During the 1936 Olympics which are better known as the Nazi Olympics, Hitler was wanting to show how superior German whites were to all races. Throughout the Olympics this idea backfired as many African Americans such as Jesse Owens dominated the Olympics. Another group of athletes that ruined Hitler’s intentions for the Olympics was a group of poor white boys from the University of Washington that won the gold medal in the boat race. In the book The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold in the 1936 Berlin Olympics David James …show more content…
Being from the lower class was the complete opposite from who Hitler wanted to win the Olympics. George Pocock who was vital to the building of the boats for the team stated “The very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them (Brown, 53).” This statement couldn’t be more true for the rowing team as they all had to overcome difficult circumstances to reach the Olympics. This was especially true for their leader Joe Rantz whose mother died early in his life and then was abandoned by his father when he was a young teenager. Rantz was forced to raise himself and somehow was able to make his way to the university of Washington. All of these class differences lead into Brown’s purpose and thesis for writing The Boys in the Boat. Brown wanted to show at a time during the great depression and countless improbable circumstances people still had the opportunity to rise above their current class and thinking in order to achieve greatness. Amazingly, Rantz and his team are able to combat these class distinctions by simply winning over and over