Critical Appreciation of the Story My Greatest Olympic Prize
Introduction
The story entitled My Greatest Olympic Prize is the heart-touching experience of Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens. It gives an account of 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin during the reign of Adolf Hitler where Jesse Owens won four gold medals. The story also tells us how Adolf Hitler believed in Aryan Superiority. He thought that his German athletes would perform better than other participants in the 1936 Olympics, Berlin. In the story, Jesse Owens reveals how he as an African-American took six years of painful practice, purposely to break the theory of Hitler.
In the story, Jesse also reveals his feelings of nervousness when he committed mistakes in trials whereas the German athlete Luz Long performed well and qualified for final. In the story, he shows liberal and friendly attitude of the German athlete who was trained by Hitler, but did not believe in Hitler’s theory. Luz Long came forward to help Jesse Owens. In spite of being an opponent, Luz was friendly with him and even helped to get qualified for final.
The story also shows the true and honest friendship formed between him and German athlete Luz Long. When Luz saw Jesse making fouls, he acted as a true guide and friend. He did not act as a rival but showed a true sportsmanship as a player.
Plot of The Story
Exposition : The story begins with an account of the summer of 1936 when the Olympic Games were being held in Berlin. Jesse Owens who was an African-American athlete, was also interested to participate in the Berlin Olympic Games. After making hard preparations of the Berlin Olympic Games, he set out to Berlin. He firmly believed that he would succeed in winning one or two medals.
The Rising Action: On the day of the trial session, as Jesse walked to the long-jump pit, he was greatly surprised to see a tall, blue eyed, blond German who had hit the pit at almost twenty-six in his practice session. Later he came to know that he was a German athlete whose name was Luz Long. He also came to know that Hitler had kept him under wraps, evidently hoping to win the jump with him.
Climax : On his first jump of the trial session, Owens lept from several inches beyond the take off board. He fouled in his second attempt, too. If he had made one more foul, he would have been eliminated. Then, he walked a few yard from the pit and kicked at the dirt to show his utter frustration. At this point the tall German introduced himself as Luz Long and advised him that he should attempt to take the jump few feet before the take off point. This advice worked and he qualified for the finals.
Falling Action : Luz broke his last record and in doing so he inspired Jesse to give his best performance. Jesse won the gold medal and Olympic record of 26 feet 5-5/16 inches. Luz Long was the first person who congratulated Jesse. Despite the fact that Hitler glared at them from the stands not a hundred yards away, Luz shook Jesse’s hand hard with smile on his face.
Resolution : In the end of the story, Jesse felt that the gold medals and cups which had won, had no value when compared with their true friendship. Jesse also felt that Luz was the epitome of what Pierre de Coubertin, founder of modern Olympic Games must have had in mind when he said, ‘The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.’
Moral of the Story:
In the story, Luz Long exemplifies the true spirit of a sportsmanship. Luz Long, though an opponent of Jesse Owens, shows true sportsmanship in understanding the psychological state of Jesse Owens to give him the right advice at the right time and makes him come out with his best. Luz Long, even though trained in the Nazi School, which believed in the Superiority of Aryan race, does not have any belief as that of Hitler and values people according to their worth. Jesse Owens, though a Negro, was a great athlete and therefore Luz Long thought that in a true sporting spirit he should inspire his opponent to come out with his best.
Setting of the Story
The story is set in Berlin, Germany in 1936. It was the summer of 1936. The Olympic Games were being held in Berlin where Jesse Owens amazed the world by winning four gold medals. The story is autobiographical where Jesse Owens describes his personal experiences of two days ; first being when the broad-jump trials were held ; second being the finals for which Owens qualified only with the help of German athlete Luz Long.
Appropriateness of the Title
The title of the story My Greatest Olympic Prize is the most appropriate. When we observe the title on Surfacial level, it appears that the title might refer to Jesse Owens’ historic achievement of winning four gold medals at the Olympic Games held in Berlin (Germany) in 1936, but when we make a thorough reading of the story, we come to know the truth that in the story Jesse Owens is referring to his friendship which he developed with a German athlete named Luz Long and his friendship was his greatest Olympic prize.
In the story, Jesse points out that the gold medal which he won breaking all past records was due to his rival, the German athlete Luz Long whom Hitler had specially prepared to win the Olympic Games. Luz Long advised Jesse in the trial which helped Jesse not only qualify for the finals but also to win the gold medal. But whenever Jesse thought of his performance in the 1936 games, he felt that more than the gold medals, he found a true gem in his friendship with Luz Long. Hence the title is apt and justified.
Characterization
The story has three main characters. Two characters named Jesse Owens and Luz Long are the main characters whereas Hitler is a minor character. The whole story revolves around these two main characters. The description of Hitler can be seen either in the beginning of the story or in the end. Both Jesse and Luz perform a vital role in making the story heart-touching and memorable. Jesse is an African-American athlete who had trained, sweated and disciplined himself for six years to participate in the Olympic Games to be held in 1936 in Berlin. He expected to win the gold medal in Berlin Olymic Games.
But in his trial session, Jesse committed mistakes and felt greatly disappointed at his performance. Luz Long who was a tall German jumper and was Jesse’s rival in the games, helped Jesse to get qualified for final. Luz Long also developed an honest and sincere friendship with Jesse. He shows true sportsmanship in Olympic Games. Next Adolf Hitler has been shown as a believer of Aryan Superiority theory. He was of the opinion that his German athletes belonged to a master’s race and they would perform better than other participants.
Autobiographical Elements
Jesse Owen’s My Greatest Olympic Prize is an autobiographical account of 1936 Olympic Games held in Berlin where he won four gold medals. In the story, he presents some real life facts which he experienced in the 1936 Olympic Games such as his committing mistakes during trials, his meeting with the German athlete Luz Long, the advice and guidance he received from Luz Long, the formation of real friendship between them and his final winning movement. In the story, Jesse reveals his true self to an extent where he displays emotions such as anger, hatred towards Hitler and his master race and friendliness and respect for Luz Long.
The Use of Reference
The story discusses the Nazi’s idea of Aryan Superiority theory. Nazis believed in the theory of racial hierarchy, identifying Germans as part of Aryan or Nordic master race. The Nazis aimed to unite all Germans living in historically German territory, while excluding those deemed either to be community aliens or belonging to an ‘inferior’ race. At the Berlin 1936 Olympics, Hitler planned to show the world that the Aryans were dominant race. Jesse Owens being a Negro and grandson of a slave wanted to prove Hitler wrong.
Lucidity of Language and Conversational Style (Dialogues)
Jesse Owens, An African-American athlete presents his real-life experience in a very simple and and straightforward manner. He does not use any complicated words and phrases so that the average reader might not feel any difficulty while reading his real life experiences. He has used conversational style.
‘Jesse Owens, I’m Luz Long. I don’t think we’ve met.’
‘Glad to meet you,’ I said. Then, trying to hide my nervousness, I added, ‘How are you V
Tm’fine. The question is : How are you ?’
‘What do you mean VI asked.
‘Something must be eating you,’ he said.
‘Believe me, I know it,’ I told him-and it felt good to say to someone.
Narrating Technique
In the story, Jesse Owens narrates his own experience in the first person at the Berlin 1936 Olympics. He tells :
‘I wasn’t too worried about all this. I’d trained, sweated and disciplined
myself for six years, with the games in mind. While I was going over on the boat,
all I could think about I had my eye especially , I’d set the world’s
record ’
‘I was in for a surprise , I was startled to see I was told ‘
‘I guessed After all, I am a Negro , I determined to go out ’
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