The Boys In The Boat Analysis

According to both “McFarland, USA” and The Boys in the Boat, the role of sport in American society is to develop character traits such as perseverance, humility and teamwork. This message is shown through the growth of these traits as the athletes became more and more successful, the type of people chosen as the main characters and the nature of the sports. “McFarland, USA” and The Boys in the Boat are similar in the message they present. Each story is about a group of underprivileged boys who overcome adversity to become champions. In both stories, the athletes’ strength of character, which comes from the obstacles in their lives, are what allows them to overcome the more privileged competition. Even though the messages in each story are very similar, there are some differences between the message in “McFarland, USA” and The Boys in the Boat. One major difference is the emphasis on teamwork. While teamwork was one of the main character traits emphasized in The Boys in the Boat, it was more of a secondary part of the message in “McFarland, USA”. Part if this difference undoubtable comes from the differences in the sports. Rowing requires everyone in the boat to work together, as opposed to cross …show more content…
The athletes’ humility especially, shows the growth of character. Usually, as people become better and more well known, they become less humble as they feel more privileged, however, the athletes in these stories continued to stay humble. For example, in The Boys in the Boat, is says ”Every one of them believed he was simply lucky to be rowing in the boat, that he didn’t really measure up to the obvious greatness of the other boys, and that he might fail the others at any moment.” This quote shows how the rowers stayed humble, even though they were the best amateur eight-oared boat in the United