Symbolism In Daniel James Brown's The Boys In The Boat

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Daniel James Brown, the author of The Boys in the Boat, uses Joe Rantz’ story to symbolize the way America was able to find hope in a time of hopelessness and despair in the world-the Great Depression, and Nazi Germany. Joe Rantz was kicked out of his home at a very young age, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. Joe’s mom, “Thula exploded in the face of what she saw a lax discipline...she would not live under the same roof as Joe...went back upstairs and told [Harry’s] only son he would have to move out of the house. Joe was ten” (Brown 36). Joe’s life had changed right before his eyes, just like a lot of Americans lives and the Jews in Germany during the early 1930s. Millions of people were displaced during the tumultuous times of the