In the biography, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, the protagonist, Louie Zamperini was exposed to a horrifying experience of being in a Japanese POW camp. A POW camp is a containment area meant to hold enemy combatants in time of war. These camps were all run differently, but in the prisoners in Japanese camps were badly mistreated. Louie was in multiple POW camps during the war after his crash in the pacific. The first camp was located on a native island called Kwajalein. “Louie had been on Kwajalein for about a week when his cell door was thrown open and two guards pulled him out. He was flush with fear, thinking that he was being taken to the sword” however “Louie wasn’t here to be executed. He was here to be interrogated.” (Page 183) …show more content…
This is the camp that he meets Mutsuhiro Watanabe, a.k.a. the bird, a monster that will haunt him for a large majority of his life, even after the war. “Down the line the corporal strode, pausing before each man, raking his eyes over him, and barking, “Name!” When he reached Louie, he stopped. Louie gave his name. The corporal’s eyes narrowed. Decades after the war, men who had looked into those eyes would be unable to shake the memory of what they saw in them. Louie dropped his eyes. There was a rush in the air, the corporal’s arm swinging, then a fist thudding into Louie’s head. Louie staggered. “Why you no look in my eye?” the corporal shouted. Louie steadied himself. He held his face taut as he raised his eyes to the corporal’s face. Again came the whirling arm, the jarring blow into his skull, his stumbling legs trying to hold him upright. “You no look at me!” This man, thought Tinker, is a psychopath.” Most Japanese camps were not investigated or checked during the war that they were following the Geneva Accords. This was an agreement between the fighting countries in the war that they would provide the prisoners with humane treatment. The Japanese disregarded this agreement. The Prison guards or leaders were not punished for the mistreatment until after the war was over. Some even still went unpunished; Mitsuhiro was one of these people. Mutsuhiro was promoted to a sergeant and was
They were then tortured and sent to Ofuna, a POW camp. They were then tortured some more. Especially by “the Bird”, a deranged man who only tortured the POW’s then was apologetic then tortured the
The American religious leader and author Thomas Monson once said, “Good timber does not come with ease. The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees”. In Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction book Unbroken, the eager Louis Zamperini put Monson’s words into action when, against all odds, he turned his life around and becoming not only one of the greatest track athletes but also a survivor of Japanese POW camps during World War II. It was Louie’s eagerness to become stronger than he had thought possible that lead Hillenbrand to share his remarkable story.
Louie and Phillips were spared from death, but were sent to another POW camp, Ofuna. At Ofuna, their food rations were cut, they were beaten for no reason and faced one of the most violent and sadistic Japanese guards, known as the Quack. The Quack beat the POW’s unconcious and gave them impossible tasks that resulted in more beatings. From Ofuna, Louie was sent to another POW camp, Omori. While at Omori, Louie was forced to work and faced the most brutal and sadistic POW guard.
In the Article “Excerpts from Unbroken” By Laura Hillenbrand POWs in Japanese were made “Invisible” during their imprisonment because they treated them terribly. According “Every man in camp was thin, many emaciated… Rations weren’t nearly enough…Unheated,drafty rooms.” (Hillenbrand,Part 2) This shows that the POWs were treated terribly by the Japanese , making them have a harsh life in their imprisonment. This proves that the Japanese made the Pows invisible during their harsh bad imprisonment.
The American POWS were made invisible by the japanese guards in the camps ,but at times they would find ways to resist . One way the American POW’S were made invisible is through dehumanization. Louie and Phil were humiliated “louie and phil were led from their cells,stripped naked,splashed
Over the course of years spent there, they became rather used to the conditions they lived in. They were fed appropriately, given a place to sleep, and treated humanely as possible. They were also given the opportunity of an education through a variety of academics brought to the camp. When the wartime was over and the Japanese were allowed back into everyday life, they weren’t treated as humans. They were looked down upon and treated as if they didn’t serve a purpose as every other citizen does.
Author, Laura Hillenbrand was quoted for, “Without dignity, identity is erased” (Hillenbrand 189). Louie Zamperini, olympic runner and WWII hero, went through the stripping of his identity and survived to tell the tale. The novel Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, is the story of Zamperini’s life, of his running adventures to fighting for survival during WWII, and returning home an unfamiliar man. Suffering through imprisonment has left Zamperini with a loss of identity, which was countered with a faith in God.
During wars, POW camps (prisoner of war camps) have been prevalent in housing soldiers from the opposing side in a general area where they can be monitored and accounted for, for years. However, many POW camps were conducted off the grid and weren’t registered with the Red Cross so many prisoners were counted as missing or dead in action. These secret camps were often execution camps or interrogation camps to gain information from captured soldiers about unknown devices, planes, and weapons. It was two of these secret camps and luckily one non-secret one that Louis Zamperini found himself in during the biography of his life in the novel Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand.
Louie Zamperini went through more pain and suffering than most people will ever endure in their entire life. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis Zamperini was an Olympic runner. He was drafted during World War II . During the war, his plane crashed in the middle of the ocean and he was stranded with little resources to survive. This book follows his incredible story battling starvation and abuse in Prisoner of War camps (POW).
Julie Otsuka's book, When the Emperor Was Divine, and George Takei's TED talk both offer insightful information about the conditions of the Japanese Internment Camps. Takei was only a young child when he was put into an internment camp. Many of the tragedies that occurred in the camps were not noticeable by him at the age of 5. This was a blessing for Takei, the less he understood about the camp the better his mental state was. Takei adapted to the horrid conditions of the internment camp because of his naïveté.
In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, the author retells the chilling, and oftentimes gruesome, experiences of the Vietnam war. He utilizes many anecdotes and other rhetorical devices in his stories to paint the image of what war is really like to people who have never experienced it. In the short stories “Spin,” “The Man I Killed,” and “ ,” O’Brien gives reader the perfect understanding of the Vietnam by placing them directly into the war itself. In “Spin,” O’Brien expresses the general theme of war being boring and unpredictable, as well as the soldiers being young and unpredictable.
This chapter “The Ghost Soldiers”, showed us how Tim O’Brien and the other soldiers were dealing with the war both physically and psychologically. It also shows us how the Tim O'Brien behaved and felt when he was shot, wounded and had a bacteria infection on his butt and how the war changed the way he thought, and viewed the other soldiers around him. This chapter also contain a lot of psychological lens. From the way Tim O’Brien felt when he was shot and separated from his unit to a new unit to when he wanted revenge on Bobby Jorgenson for almost “killing” him.
Japanese soldiers also highly valued dignity, and believed that if a person had lost it they were subhuman, thus deserving of cruelty. Because they viewed the captured prisoners of war as dishonorable, they would inflict unfathomable brutality upon them. Louie was subject to callous degradation and violence daily, yet he would attempt to maintain his dignity by committing small acts of rebellion. He and other POW’s would steal newspapers and food from the guards, while planning ways to sabotage them and escape from the camp. Although not all a success, these acts of resistance helped the men retain some dignity and control in their lives.
Unbroken is an exceptionally matchless tale that takes the reader on a journey through Lieutenant Louie Zamperini’s engrossing life story. Author Laura Hillenbrand captures every aspect of Zamperini’s life from his early years as a juvenile delinquent, to his advancement as an Olympic runner, and to later on his incarceration in a Japanese camp as a POW. Unbroken has several prevalent themes which are survival, resilience, and redemption. Despite his many hardships Louie remained driven and determined. “If you’re going through hell keep on going” isn’t a direct quote used in Unbroken but it can be attributed to Louie because he was able to withstand all odds and come out unbroken.
Resisting Invisibility During World War II Imagine being tortured in a POW (prisoner of war) camp or being moved because of your descent into a camp away from all other people of different descents. Louie Zamperini was captured after his B-24 crashed in the pacific ocean and was stranded at sea for 47 days eating sharks and being attacked by them. Louie once imprisoned was beaten and starved to the maximum. Miné Okubo was moved to a camp outside of her town and imprisoned in the United States in fear of betrayal from all people with Asian decent after the pearl harbor attack. The experiences Louie and Miné went through a show that humans can overcome most things as long as you keep your mind set on the positives and think about the reasons you should stay alive.