Chapters 3 + 4

These chapters focus on Louie’s high school and college aspirations. He was devoted to track running, and he ran a 4minute 21second mile in 1934. His determination and the help of his brother Pete allowed him to place himself into the running team of the US for the Munich Olympics. This brought him much prestige and his family back home was celebrating with the rest of the whole neighborhood. He then was set aboard the luxury steamer Manhattan where he complains about the rocking waves keeping him from practicing like he had been on land. The book says that Louie had gained 12 pounds after leaving the ship. He writes “Biggest meal I ever ate in my life, and I can’t believe it myself, but I was there...where it went I don’t know.” I interpret this as a statement of how seeing isn’t always believing. And no matter how close someone is to an event that was right in front of their eyes it could still be so devastating or moving that they don’t actually believe that the even happened. On one hand I think that there is some truth to this “not believing” notion, when someone is so shaken the first response become defensive, whether mental or physical. But on the other hand I think that is completely ridiculous; If someone sees it with their own eyes or they can go up to it and feel it, take pictures of it and share the same feeling among other people who also witnessed it then I think that ‘not believing’ is more of a state of denial. I think that if something incredibly devastating happened to me, I couldn’t just wish it away and pretend it never happened. These traits of things being right there in front of you but refusal of belief from people share a commonality with ghost stories. The person in question says that they saw, felt, and heard all the ‘tall tell’ signs of a ghost but whether or not people believe the story is completely up to them.