Now that classes are back in full throttle, I'll occasionally write a post featuring my final thoughts on a given text. When I read a text, it is important for me to be able to articulate what I learn, what I take away, what I can apply from the text to my own life. I'm taking an interesting literature course this semester, one that's different from the traditional lit courses you'd find in an undergrad English department. It's called "American Literature in Cultural Contexts" and it specifically focuses on cancer and how it's portrayed and perceived in American culture. So far, I am really enjoying it--the content we read is engaging and thought-provoking and the class discussions we have are intellectually stimulating. The text we just finished studying is Lance Armstrong's NYT Bestseller It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (written with Sally Jenkins). What follows are my final thoughts on the book. (If you haven't read it, you can read a quick summary here.)
There are multiple ways you could critique this text in terms of its reinforcement of certain dominant discourses in American culture. For example, there are several instances where one could make the argument that this book both illuminates and reinforces aspects of American patriarchal society and gender roles. Or, when Lance talks about himself being the first American on the first American team on an American bike to win the Tour de France, one could make the argument that he is reinforcing the larger cultural discourses around American nationalism and colonialism. Other similar arguments could be made with regard to how the text reinforces the notion of the American Dream and the idea of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps"; or how the text is just another book that tells the story of a boy becoming a man; or how it's just another story about a brash, cocky, immature athlete learning the ways of the sport and maturing into a better athlete and human being; or how the text illuminates class differences and specifically how privilege might increase one's chances at surviving an illness such as cancer. The list could go longer, but I'll stop there. I'm eager to share with you what I've taken away from it, which is more positive.
While these criticisms are valid and are definitely good to analyze, discuss, and be aware of, I find these of less importance than the life lessons weaved throughout the text. This book provides a frame through which to look at and approach life. In sharing his varied life experiences and his honest responses to them, Lance Armstrong conveys a series of life lessons--lessons that can be distilled from the life story of this famous, privileged, larger-than-life cycling superstar, lessons that common, everyday, average people in any circumstance can apply successfully to their own lives.
Lesson #2: It really does behoove you to maintain a primarily positive attitude in life, especially in the face of adversity. In other words: choose to see every obstacle in life as an opportunity; choose to find and focus on the positive in every situation, regardless of how small it may be; be determined to fight and win; never give up; believe and hope; embrace every opportunity as if it's your last.
Lesson #3: Be aware... of yourself and the world you live in and always strive toward greater awareness. In other words: understand what you've been through, what you've achieved, what you've learned, what may lie ahead, what limits may exist, and what you're capable of; fully realize what you've gained from your opportunities in terms of what you've learned, how you've changed, and how much you've grown; understand the amount of choice you have and how you can use it to positively (or negatively) impact your life.
The life lessons presented in this book are priceless. And they're ones we (hopefully) encounter often in various avenues in our lives. Lance Armstrong, through his honest account of his life--his lows and highs and everything in between--and most importantly in his viewing cancer as an opportunity has produced a text from which anyone can positively gain. Behind all of his privilege and fame and superstar prowess, the life lessons are there--and they're as human and down-to-earth as they come.
There are multiple ways you could critique this text in terms of its reinforcement of certain dominant discourses in American culture. For example, there are several instances where one could make the argument that this book both illuminates and reinforces aspects of American patriarchal society and gender roles. Or, when Lance talks about himself being the first American on the first American team on an American bike to win the Tour de France, one could make the argument that he is reinforcing the larger cultural discourses around American nationalism and colonialism. Other similar arguments could be made with regard to how the text reinforces the notion of the American Dream and the idea of "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps"; or how the text is just another book that tells the story of a boy becoming a man; or how it's just another story about a brash, cocky, immature athlete learning the ways of the sport and maturing into a better athlete and human being; or how the text illuminates class differences and specifically how privilege might increase one's chances at surviving an illness such as cancer. The list could go longer, but I'll stop there. I'm eager to share with you what I've taken away from it, which is more positive.
While these criticisms are valid and are definitely good to analyze, discuss, and be aware of, I find these of less importance than the life lessons weaved throughout the text. This book provides a frame through which to look at and approach life. In sharing his varied life experiences and his honest responses to them, Lance Armstrong conveys a series of life lessons--lessons that can be distilled from the life story of this famous, privileged, larger-than-life cycling superstar, lessons that common, everyday, average people in any circumstance can apply successfully to their own lives.
Lesson #1: As Lance so aptly explains about the Tour de France, "It's a metaphor for life, not only the longest race in the world but also the most exalting and heartbreaking and potentially tragic. It poses every conceivable element to the rider, and more: cold, heat, mountains, plains, ruts, flat tires, high winds, unspeakably bad luck, unthinkable beauty, yawning senselessness, and above all a great, deep self-questioning. During our lives we're faced with so many different elements as well, we experience so many setbacks, and fight such a hand-to-hand battle with failure, head down in the rain, just trying to stay up right and to have a little hope" (Armstrong 68-69). In other words: life is a roller-coaster ride and it's how we respond that matters.
Lesson #2: It really does behoove you to maintain a primarily positive attitude in life, especially in the face of adversity. In other words: choose to see every obstacle in life as an opportunity; choose to find and focus on the positive in every situation, regardless of how small it may be; be determined to fight and win; never give up; believe and hope; embrace every opportunity as if it's your last.
Lesson #3: Be aware... of yourself and the world you live in and always strive toward greater awareness. In other words: understand what you've been through, what you've achieved, what you've learned, what may lie ahead, what limits may exist, and what you're capable of; fully realize what you've gained from your opportunities in terms of what you've learned, how you've changed, and how much you've grown; understand the amount of choice you have and how you can use it to positively (or negatively) impact your life.
The life lessons presented in this book are priceless. And they're ones we (hopefully) encounter often in various avenues in our lives. Lance Armstrong, through his honest account of his life--his lows and highs and everything in between--and most importantly in his viewing cancer as an opportunity has produced a text from which anyone can positively gain. Behind all of his privilege and fame and superstar prowess, the life lessons are there--and they're as human and down-to-earth as they come.
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