I decided to blog about Rudy's false starts because it stuck me as rather peculiar that Rudy never actually explains why he purposefully decided to throw his last race. Not only does Rudy never explicitly say why he threw the race, but there also seems to be many possible answers as to why he did so, and I wanted to understand what was truly going on in that young boy's head as he false started for the second time in a row.
The first possible reason that jumps to mind is that Rudy simply thought he was going to lose the race, and he thought it would be more respectable to not race at all, then have proof that someone is faster than him. Not only is this one of the reader's first thoughts as he finds out that Rudy disqualified himself on purpose, but Liesel ponders this idea in her own mind as well, "Perhaps...he was afraid to lose the final race." This theory of fear would make a great deal of sense for the average young teenager, but if one looks back to all of the risky things that Rudy has already done in the novel, it becomes pretty obvious that he is not the one to back down because of a little tension.
The second possible reason for the false starts, which Liesel also happens to mention, is that Rudy was already satisfied with the three gold medals that he already won. Once again this seems like a plausible explanation for the purposeful disqualification, but as you dive deeper into the text, it becomes rather evident that Rudy would most likely not be satisfied with only three medals. In fact, there is more than one place where it is said that Rudy put all of his effort into winning the four golds:
"Rudy was intent on winning four events," (359)
"'But can you really win all four events?' They slowed to the end of the track, and Rudy placed his hands on his hips. 'I have to'" (360)
"He would not smile until he won all four." (362)
The conclusion I have come to, which is a point that Liesel only brushes over, is theory that as long as Rudy lives in Nazi Germany, it is impossible for him to be as "defiant" as Jesse Owens was in the 1936 Olympics. I guess it one could say that this is more of a metaphorical reason for Rudy to throw his own race, not a literal reason, but in this metaphor Deutscher=Hitler and Rudy=Jesse. There is only one difference; Jesse is from America and Rudy is from Nazi Germany.
Or maybe it is just like Liesel said, "Because he isn't Jesse Owens." (364)
I agree with Cole on Rudy being defiant and the fact that Rudy might have disqualified himself on purpose for fear of losing to someone. I feel that Rudy still looks up to Jesse Owens and part of the reason that he false starts is because he wants to be defiant, like Cole said. In Rudy's mind, Jesse is a real idol because he won 4 events, despite racial prejudice and setbacks because of his race (as in him being African American). I really like where Cole compares: Deutscher=Hitler and Rudy=Jesse. Hitler refuses to shake hands with Jesse and Deutscher wants nothing to do with Rudy. By disqualifying himself, Rudy tries to show that he is similar to Jesse Owens, his idol, and a rebel. I see both Rudy and Jesse as rebels because Rudy loses on purpose to be like Jesse, and Jesse breaks Hitler's guidelines.
ReplyDeleteLike Cole said, I also believe that Rudy loses on purpose because he is afraid that someone will defeat him. Earlier in the novel, Rudy has many defeats/losses in a row, and desperately needs a win. Because Rudy had so many "losses" before, he is scared of losing any more. At the race, Rudy knows that he has a larger chance of losing, and he is tired, so he decides that the odds are against him. He feels that he cannot take the pressure of even one more loss, especially one with lots of people spectating.
It can be very controversial why Rudy disqualifies himself from the last race, but I believe that he did it in an attempt to be like Jesse Owens, a rebel, and he also did it in fear of taking yet another loss, which in his mind would be unbearable.
I pretty much agree with you Cole, but I'm just going to expand on the not being Jesse Owens concept.
ReplyDeleteNot only does he probably realize that he is not Jesse Owens, but also he realizes that being Jesse Owens is NOT a good thing. Back when the Jesse Owens incident happened, Rudy's father explained to Rudy that being African- American was not a positive trait, but at that time Rudy didn't fully understand what that meant. But I think it's when he disqualifies himself that he fully understood what being Jesse Owens really meant and how that might hurt him soically. Using your analogy, if Deutscher=Hitler then there is no way Rudy wants to equal Jesse Owens, because if he does he wouldn't hear the end of it from Deutscher.
nice nice
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