Redemption In Unbroken

An In-Depth Analysis of the Novel Unbroken The novel Unbroken, a biography written by Laura Hillenbrand, focused on the true life experiences of Olympic runner Louie Zamperini. Unbroken would later become a movie. Louie ran in the Olympics in 1936 before being drafted to war to fight the Japanese during World War II. Louie’s plane, the “Green Hornet,” crashed at sea. Only Louie, Phil, and Mac survived. After surviving on a life raft for forty-seven days, the Japanese captured Louie and Phil. Louie spent over two years of his life as a prisoner of war in the hands of the Japanese. One of the symbols in the novel focused on sharks. Hillenbrand illustrated redemption and forgiveness as a theme in Unbroken. In the book, Louie faced another important character in the novel named Mutsuhiro Watanabe. Mutsuhiro Watanabe, also referred to as the Bird, lived as a prison guard for the Japanese. In control of the prisoners inside the camp, the Bird often beat and abused the POWs. Hillenbrand clearly explicated the Bird’s character as vicious and ruthless. The Bird seemed to attack Louie more than he pummeled the other POWs. “Like any bully, he had a taste for a particular type of victim” (Hillenbrand, 244). Hillenbrand

Examples of redemption and forgiveness are evident throughout the book. In his childhood, Louie repeatedly caused trouble in his neighborhood. The community, in which Louie lived, resented his menacing behavior. As his community learned to forgive Louie for his petty crimes, Louie redeemed his negative reputation by channeling his energy to run for his school’s track team. In Unbroken, Louie grew to forgive Mac for eating all of the chocolate after they fell into the sea (Hillenbrand,