Seabiscuit: An American Legend | Themes
Catharsis
Seabiscuit's meteoric rise in the national consciousness represented a type of catharsis, or cleansing of emotion, of all that was negative in an era marked by economic downturn, mass unemployment, and hardship. According to Hillenbrand, "America was desperate to lose itself in anything that offered affirmation." People of that time identified with Seabiscuit, an unlikely hero that was a victim of situations beyond his control. With his determined success, they were afforded a vicarious victory for themselves, and a temporary release from their own troubles....
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