The Underdogs

Recently in class, well actually about a month ago, I read the story of a french gentleman, “The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls” (Marcel Ayme, aka the author) which was literally about a man who possessed the ability to walk through walls! Surprisingly though, it wasn't his supernatural power that made me appreciate the story. It was the fact that I could spot a clear connection between a theme in this story which relates to my kind of news, the world of sports. How, you may wonder, can sports ever possibly have the same theme as the story of the french gentleman with ghostlike powers? Well, it's simple, the overstated theme in this story was the love and appreciation for underdogs, which sports are full of. The gentleman in “The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls” may not be doned an underdog for the same reason as any athlete or team would be but, the same principle still applies. The gentleman, or Dutilleul as is his name (what an awesome name, don't ask me how to say it, because I can't, but it's still awesome) is an underdog, because he was literally like an “Average Joe” before he started using his gift. Once he started using his gift, he became powerful and mysterious, easily sneaking and conniving away from police and authority, which drew the public towards him, just like an underdog team or athlete would. Dutilleul, to the people was an underdog turned superhero, who came from out of nowhere and accomplished something that no normal person could. Speaking of coming out of nowhere, this is where sports fit in. Obviously proffessional athletes do not achieve public affection by stealing and running away from the police, and there are teams, who are beloved by the public who are not known as underdogs, however, similar to Dutilleul, underestimated teams are felt as more relatable to the public. As I said before similar to this story, every sport is full of underdogs. Just last summer, the London 2012 Olympics were going on. The underdog teams weren't the U.S or China, just as the police and authority weren't the underdogs in the story. The underdog teams were countries with one or a few athletes or teams that had never before felt a medal in their hands. Right in the beginning of the story, the author informed us of Dutilleul's backround, that he was a quiet, lonely gentleman who was day after day bullied by his boss. I, right away felt sorry for this man, just as I felt sorry for those countries in the Olympics who had never won a medal. Throughout the story when Dutilleul transformed into the mysterious thief, I was rooting for him, because I wanted him to succeed, and when he failed, I felt that the little spark inside of me died. As I was watching the Olympics I realized, that it is kind of sickening and kind of boring to see a team that always wins and keeps winning (except for the US) in fact after a while everyone expects a team to keep winning. I think this is what the citizens in “The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls” felt as well, the felt that the police always won and always got their bad guy. So when Dutilleul came along and foiled the law enforcement's victory record, they felt excited and stunned that someone who always wins, time and time again finally lost. The story finishes up by Dutillel being stuck forever in a wall that he was trying to walk through, so in reality which is the case for many underdogs, he actually did lose. An underdog team may win a game that they were supposed to lose and after they win they will rejoice and receive love from their fans and new fans, but what happens when the next game they play they lose? Will these newly loved teams lose their fame? Will they have underdog forever stamped on them, just like Dutilleul was forever stamped?