Boys in the Boat Non-Fiction

Boys in the Boat

By: Daniel James Brown

This story is about how nine boys started off rowing at Washington University and then later become the best of the world, winning gold in the Berlin Olympics. These boys formed an eight (a row boat that has eight rowers in it and a coxswain), During their Olympic experience the boys bonded tremendously, even after they won the Olympics and stopped rowing. “They also staged more formal ten-year anniversaries.” (Brown, loc. 6065) The boys grew even closer together as some of them died.The story follows Joe Rantz throughout his life from when he five years old to when he died, in 2005. Most of the story in based in the Washington University’s shell house, but then moves on to Berlin where the boys have the race of their lifetime. The author showed with the story again and again that if you work hard you can accomplish anything, also teamwork will get you even farther that you could imagine. This story taught me that if you try hard and work hard on a goal that you want to achieve, you will have a better chance at reaching that goal.   

This story made me think about not only my own life but also how Joe Rantz’s life changed so dramatically from being a poor, country kid to becoming one of the best crew  rowers that the U.S.A. has ever seen. This story truly showed that even against all odds you will always have a chance to reach your goal. This was clearly shown in the book  “Boys in the Boat” because the nine crewmen from Washington University had made it all the way from almost losing to a local team to winning the race in the Berlin Olympics. During their race they faced many problems, from missing the start signal to having one of their crew member almost faint.  Yet, “Their time, 6:00.8, was a new course record. And sweeter yet. it was a new world and Olympic record, eclipsing California’s 1928 time of 6:03.2.”(Brown, loc. 5563)  The boys believed in their goal and won gold against all odds.

The author demonstrates that if you look back at the childhood of some important athletes, they weren’t so rich and famous as we might think. In the story the author doesn’t offer so much opinion but only that the Washington boys were good from the start. A few months before Joe Rantz died Daniel James Brown interviewed him and later wrote this book. Since the story is based on Joe Rantz’s opinion there might be some bias in the story, but not from the author. There was very little opinionated parts in the story, just that from the beginning of the story we knew that Washington was going to be good, very good.

    These boys show that with some perseverance you can accomplish anything, no matter your goal. This story made me change the way that I think because, if you work hard you will have a good time in life. This story relates not only to me and rowers but to everyone. For example if you want to solve the problems in the Middle East, if you work hard you might reach a world goal of peace. I think that this story is not only good for rowers but also for people that need some motivation.

Works Cited

Brown, Daniel. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Print.