The Great Depression lasted a decade and affected people’s attitudes toward life and the future. Because of this period, Seabiscuit became a famous icon of hope, being an underdog in the sport, which aroused the people in feeling joy as they watch Seabiscuit win races against his toughest opponents. If Seabiscuit were to race today, he wouldn’t be as popular as he was before then, because horseracing is not a popular sport that would captivate a modern person. Currently, the United States or the world is not in such a dramatic state in which people need encouragement. People now do not need any particular special icon of hope to go through a tough time, however, that was the case back in the Great Depression.
Although Seabiscuit and War Admiral were both racehorses, they had many differences that separated them from each other as symbols. Seabiscuit was a horse that had grown from a small and weak background to become a famed horse because of training and hidden talent. Coming from a modest background, Seabiscuit represented the common people who needed hope. In contrast, War Admiral represents the advantageous people. With the Great Depression, capitalists played a dominant role in society, so Seabiscuit challenging War Admiral would be analogous to the common people revolting against the wealthy capitalists.
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The press played the role of popularizing as well as pushing Seabiscuit’s limits. The press creates pressure on Seabiscuit and his caretakers to become better, and Howard uses the media to his advantage by using that pressure to further benefit Seabiscuit’s reputation. This helped Seabiscuit’s career, but it was also a hindrance because that pressure had been the hidden force to the end of the career as well.
Seabiscuit had shaped the personality of the people that he was around. Although Seabiscuit does not look at all like a competitive racehorse, he was seen as an underdog in the sport, which also inspired his companions. He changed Howard, for example, in that he became reengaged with classic horse racing after becoming successful in the automobile business. Moreover, Seabiscuit inspired Red Pollard after Pollard had gone down to become broke and homeless, but then when the two met, Pollard became more hopeful. Finally, for Smith, he became passionate about horse racing since it was a career that tested Smith in the things he was good at.
Red Pollard and Tom Smith are almost complete opposites, for example, the first is very outspoken while the second is very reserved. Howard was the person holding them together, resolving their disputes with his money. Pollard’s ambitious instincts and Smith’s knowledge were assets to each other because those combined helped Seabiscuit gain the ability to win.
The will and determination that all three men had were important to push Seabiscuit to win. The ability to not give up was the attribute that allowed them to continue the journey to making Seabiscuit the best. There were multiple times when the conditions were not favorable and there were also many losses, but those setbacks pushed the ability of the three men to continue.
There was the common goal to succeed in each of the men’s minds. Their will in winning was parallel to how Seabiscuit had the determination to compete and beat the other horses. This cultivated the horse’s talents by nurturing those feelings in competition and mending them when encountering setbacks.
The most significant lesson to be drawn from the successes is to always push for the better and to never give up. Even though there were times when Seabiscuit was unable to overcome his opponents, or the publicity that set back the training, pushing through those obstacles carried Seabiscuit to victory despite the conditions. This teaches the role of persevering and completely giving your all to a task, and if that fails, keep trying again.
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