Nice

The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown tells a true and uplifting tale about nine kids from working class families during the depression who row for the University of Washington as members of an eight-oar crews. These sons of farmers, loggers, and other low-class jobs go on to defeat the preppy, confident rowing teams of the East coast schools with long, illustrious histories of success in the sport. And, to even further their cause, they defeated the teams of Britain, and went on to compete at the 1936 Berlin Olympics on behalf of the United States. This is a fairly well-known tale, not just as this novel, so I’ll ruin the ending and say that these nine underdogs from the depths of the United States Depression defeat both Italy and even Hitler-led Germany to earn gold.

I chose this book because I found that it struck a nice balance between a good read, and entertaining read, and a basis for research, as it brings up questions regarding the sport of rowing, the Depression, Germany’s use of hosting the Olympics to cover up their genocide, World War II in general, the list goes on and does an effective job of driving my research.

The novel begins with a description of depression-stricken Seattle, where the protagonist, Joe Rantz, and his band of merry rowers attend the University of Washington. Right off the bat, it is clear that Joe Rantz stands out amongst his wealthy peers. As he describes, “his clothes were not like those of the others students--his trousers not neatly creased, his oxfords neither new nor freshly polished, his sweater neither crisp nor clean but rather an old and rumpled hand-me-down” (13). This is despite the fact that he is both athletic and handsome, two attributes that in his mind are less important than his financial situation. What’s particularly interesting about this protagonist, though, is that the author Daniel James Brown was neighbors with the real Joe Rantz, and much of the inspiration that Brown drew to write the novel came from conversations between the two. This makes for an intimate tone that makes it clear how knowledgeable and comfortable the author is with this material.

My first bit of research delves into the sport of rowing, what’s also known as crew. What most people do not know is that crew was the first sport in the history of the United States to have an inter-collegiate athletic event, between Harvard and Yale in 1852. The sport started on the East coast and in Britain, at the schools Oxford and Cambridge, in the early 1800s. It is a physically demanding sport as a mentally demanding sport, requiring teammates to work in flawless harmony and efficiency.

The next item that peaked my interest was the idea of sports during the Depression. It seemed counterintuitive that sports would be popular during this time of poverty and hunger, and interesting that the protagonist Joe Rantz was putting so much pressure on himself to succeed at rowing. However, sporting events were a successful way to keep people’s minds off of the hard times. In fact, football became huge during the depression. Nebraska is an example of a school that had an immensely popular program, nearly as popular as college football today. And, much like the characters of The Boys in the Boat, the Nebraska football players mostly came from poor families.

So far, I am enjoying the book, and questions continue to pop up as I get further and further.

http://egrcrew.org/about-crew/

http://www.livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe30s/life_14.html

The American Dream :(

Quarter 1 Final Post
Death of a Salesman

After having written that third blog post, I am starting to think that maybe I got the symbolism for the stockings wrong. The stockings are a physical manifestation of the reason why Biff didn't try again in math and didn't end up going college. That reason isn't infidelity, but rather betrayal. While infidelity certainly fits nicely under betrayal, it's Willy's betrayal to his family, especially Linda and Biff, that really sends all of them into a tailspin. Also, the progression of Willy's feelings towards the stockings isn't so much the increasing humiliation of being caught for infidelity, but the progress of betrayal itself. At first, Willy is so nonchalant about his affair because he doesn't quite see it as a betrayal yet, until he is confronted by Biff. It's not until he hurts someone that he realizes his affair is wrong. This then transitions from the theme I surmised.

While my initial thought was that the theme was going to have to do something with betrayal since it seemed like such a big factor in how Biff and Willy drifted apart, I actually ended up feeling that a more worthwhile theme to discuss would be on identity and the American Dream, and what it is exactly that Miller thinks about those. Let's look at the two character in which everything revolves around in the play: Willy and Biff. First, Willy: Willy has worked hard his entire life as a salesman in order to support his family and climb up the socioeconomic ladder. However, that isn't really where his passions lie. When talking to Howard about finding a position to stay in New York, Willy says, "Oh, yeah, my father lived many years in Alaska...I though I'd go out with my older brother and try to locate him, and maybe settle in the North with the old man. And I almost decided to go, when I met a salesman in the Parker House" (60). I think this quote is key in understanding why Willy is the man he is. He was all for the adventurous nature that ran in his family, and he wanted to go out to Alaska and blaze new trails for himself. However, then he meets this well-off salesman who seems to have the world wrapped around his finger. He holds this salesman that he met as the goal for himself, of where he wants to be at the end of his life. This salesman is the American Dream in Willy's eyes. But the problem is, Willy never gets there. He works hard hour for all of his life and can't even pay for his insurance when he starts to get older.

Biff, on the other hand, is the antithesis of Willy, but he starts off on the same track. He's a star athlete who's being recruited to college, and all Willy wants is for Biff to start his own business and make the money that Willy never did. When Biff finally decided to give in and go talk to Oliver about his business proposition, Willy is ecstatic, and says to him, "Because you got greatness in you, Biff, remember that. You got all kinds a greatness" (50). This is in direct contrast to Willy's thoughts on Biff at the beginning of the play, when he has just returned home from working on a farm out West; he says about Biff, "The trouble is he's lazy, godammmit!" (5). However, Biff knows he's not the type of person to settle down and make a career out of being a business man, and says to Happy, "Men built like we are should be working out in the open" (12). He has the same adventurous gene that Willy admitted to having, but Biff's actually acting on it. At the very end of the play, at Willy's funeral (which ironically has very little attendees, in direct contrast to the salesman who inspired him to follow in his footsteps) Biff even says, "He had all the wrong dreams. All, all wrong...He never knew who he was...I know who I am, kid" (111). After everything that happened in the play, after Willy was sure that he had convinced Biff to start a business, it turns out the Biff didn't budge, and he stayed true to himself. From this, my belief is that Arthur Miller was criticizing the American Dream, similarly to F. Scott Fitzgerald with The Great Gatsby.  Both feature a character reaching for that dream, falling short, and suffering a tragic end. Miller is trying to say that you should follow who you are, and not conform to some standard in place that is just an excuse to motivate a generation of hard-working Americans.

One way in which I practiced being a good reader was in reading with a dictionary, but that's a cheap one. I can't say that I practiced re-reading very much, due to time constrictions that come with being a high schooler, but I certainly went back to the text on multiple occasions to gleam more insight when writing these blogs. The play being short helped with being able to remember where to go to find certain information, which made re-reading much more reasonable than it has been for other works I've had to read. One thing I think I did well though was leave all notions from outside of the text outside of the text. I went into this book knowing very little about the plot, characters, or era, so it was easy to not take in outside information in drawing conclusions, or even just generally thinking about the text.

Once again, Arthur Miller did not fail in providing both a meaningful and entertaining read. If you haven't yet read this masterpiece from my favorite playwright, then I highly recommend it. If anything, you should read it just for the sake of a good, short read. I know that plays turn a lot of people off, especially when considering reading authors like Shakespeare, but Death of a Salesman is a very dynamic, exciting play that doesn't get caught up in overly convoluted language or plot. The action is fairly non-stop, and the stage directions are kept to a minimum so there is very little interruption in flow. Also, did I mention non-convoluted language? The language is mostly character dialogue taken straight out of the time period, so all of it is comprehensible and easy to understand. But, besides these somewhat shallow bases for recommendation, Death of a Salesman hosts an abundance of meaning that is interesting to unravel and understand.

Stockings

Quarter 1 Post 3
Death of a Salesman

Like I said, this is a pretty short play, so while it seems like writing this penultimate post only 112 pages may be premature, I'm left with no choice because I've reached the end. And a tragic end, at that. Things escalate in the Loman family, and the play ends with a tragedy that I won't spoil. However, right at the end of the book, before tragedy strikes, the most pivotal point of the story occurs, which brings all of the parts we've read so far full circle and finally reveals how the schism developed between father and son. On pages 93-95, we finally see why Biff gave up on his father and why he decided not to retake math and go to college. In line with my prediction from the first post, "The Woman" was indeed a mistress of Willy. However, what I failed to predict was that Biff actually caught his father in the act, and saw Willy give "The Woman" some of Linda's stockings after the two obviously had a sexual encounter that Willy tried to cover up.

There are references to stockings earlier in the play, such as the one on page 55 that "get me [Willy] nervous" when he sees a stocking dangling from Linda's hand. Even earlier on, "The Woman" says, "And thanks for the stocking. I love a lot of stockings" (26). Both of these foreshadow the big reveal on who she is, and the last mention of the stockings comes during this crucial scene when "The Woman" says, "Where are my stocking? You promised me stockings, Willy!" (94). This seems like a fairly insignificant symbol in the scheme of the play since the stockings only come up a few times and are only briefly mentioned in each appearance. Also, Flannery O'Connor says that a symbol needs to play a role in the story if it is to have symbolic meaning. The stockings have their appearances, but like I said, they aren't very meaningful in the development of the plot since they only act as little side notes in these character interactions. However, they do accumulate meaning, especially since early on in the play it's hard to tell what they are implying. Each time they appear, they become more and more humiliating for Willy. Their first appearance has Willy shrug off the gift as though it were nothing and response to "The Woman's" thanks with a flirty joke. Then, when he sees the stockings in Linda's hands, he's embarrassed by their presence and immediately asks her to put them down, which is a strange request in it of itself. Then, finally, face to face with Biff, "The Woman" insists that Biff give her the stockings before she leaves and walks to her room naked. From these moments, the stockings seems to represent infidelity, but also carry a message about infidelity with them. Since Willy is initially unperturbed by the implications of his gift and then grows to resent their significance, I assumed that the message carries over to infidelity: it might seem like a harmless engagement at first, but as demonstrated in Willy's case, it isn't worth it in the end.

Stage Right, Stage Left, Stage 20 Years Ago

Quarter 1 Post 2
Death of a Salesman

Another 40 pages in, we've now progressed from act one to act two. At the climax of act one, we finally see the tension between Biff and Willy explode as the two get into a heated argument. Act two opens with Willy asking his boss Howard, who Willy claims to have named when his father ran the company, if he has a position that would no longer require him to go to Boston so often. Howard takes this as an opportunity instead to fire Willy saying, "I think you need a good long rest, Willy" (63). We also find out that Willy had been borrowing money from his friend Charley, a successful business man, yet he's too prideful to accept a job form Charley. Starting to increase in magnitude and significance are the flashbacks that Willy sees in real time. When he wanders into Charley, it is due to the fact that he was engaged in another conversation with his brother Ben about going to Alaska, one that occurred years before.

The reason that these scenes where past mixes with present work in this play is partially due to the stage setup and the stage directions. This is the first play that I've ever payed very close attention to what's going on onstage, and not just what the characters are saying. The stage is set up so that the house is the main focal point of what's going on onstage. Those acting in the present enter and exit through the doors of the house like in real life. However, during those scenes where Willy starts to see flashbacks happening at the same time as the present, the characters from the past enter through the front of the house, where there isn't a wall. For example, during the first time that young Biff and Happy are introduced, "Willy is gradually addressing--physically--a point offstage," and "Biff and Happy appear from the direction  Willy was addressing"(16, 17). For the rest of the play then, I just look for hints like that when I'm confused as to what is current and what is a flashback of Willy's. Below is a sample stage for clarification:



Another interesting aspect of the stage directions that I have enjoyed is the music. Each scene has a different music description that varies depending on the characters and the mood of the scene. For instance, at the start of act two, "Music is heard, gay and bright," which is appropriate because Willy is waking up to a new and optimistic day. I am sure that there is some symbolism going on here, especially since it seems as though some characters have corresponding music to them and some don't. Every time Ben enters, his music comes on. However, I'm in no current position to draw conclusions on what's happening, but I'm sure this thought will come up again in future blog posts.

Willy Loman is Crazy

Quarter 1 Post 1
Death of a Salesman

The work of literature that I decided to read for this current Independent Reading assignment is Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. My decision came mostly from having read The Crucible by the same author last year and having surprisingly really enjoyed it. Due to some serious procrastination, The Crucible ended up being a one-night mission, and instead of giving up and resorting to Sparknotes like a sane person, I read the entire thing. So, I decided to stick with the same author. So far, I've been pretty happy with my decision. The play deals with Willy Loman, an aging salesman with a wife and two grown sons who is starting to lose it a little. The play is relatively short, so I decided to start this post at page 40. At his point, Willy has gotten home from a sales trip to both of his grown boys, Biff and Happy. Biff, the older of the two, has drifted from job to job, unable to stay in one place and find a career, mostly preferring to be outside and doing something active. Happy, the younger of the two, has secured a position in a department store, where he sleeps around with his co-workers girlfriends. They come home to find Willy somewhat mentally unstable, and the play features scenes that mix the present action and flashbacks, which in Willy's mind seem to be happening at the same time.

Willy is obviously the crux of this story, being the salesman in question in the title Death of a Salesman. As soon as we're introduced to the character, there are already implications that something is "off" with Mr. Loman. When returning from a sales trip, he describes a moment driving home where, "Suddenly I realize I'm going sixty miles an hour and I don't remember the last five minutes" (3). Already, Willy is frazzled to say the least. Another key characteristic we see early on is the tension between Willy and his older son, Biff. Willy is a firm believer in the American Dream, and it seems to pain him that Biff doesn't want to hold down a job and settle. The two don't have any direct interactions this far in the play, but both of them are vocal about their grudge, such as when Biff says, "He's got no character...spewing out that vomit from his mind" (40). What seems to be the most important characteristic so far though is Willy's inability to keep the past and present separate in his mind. He has three separate occurrences of the present being interrupted by the past, one featuring Biff and Happy as younger children greeting Willy after his return from a business trip. A completely different relationship between Biff and Willy is shown here, one where Biff idolizes his father and Willy is incredibly proud of Biff. Another occurs with the appearance of a character only named "The Woman" that Willy gives some of Linda's stockings to. My first thought was that The Woman was a younger Linda, but it became clear pretty early on that The Woman was most likely a mistress of Willy's. The final one introduces Willy's older brother Ben, who went searching for Willy's father in Alaska and somehow ended up in Africa, where he became rich when he entered the diamond business. This is an interesting way to separate the action of the story, and it creates suspense since we know something happens that causes a schism between Biff and Willy that certainly wasn't there in Willy's flashback. I'm eager to continue reading and find out exactly what it is that happens, and it doesn't hurt that the play is well-written and engaging to prevent this assignment from becoming a chore.