Analysis Of Forgiveness In Laura Hillenbrand's Book 'Unbroken'

Someone once said, “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future” (Lorenzo). Olympic athlete, Louie Zamperini lived through WWII and was able to experience a life free from his horrible past. Laura Hillenbrand’s novel Unbroken tells the story of Louie Zamperini and the struggles he experiences as a POW in WWII. After surviving the war, he returns home a completely different man. Louie struggles to deal with his horrific past, but manages to find a way to let it go. Louie faces many obstacles during the war, but with the faith in God, years after the war he was finally able to forgive those who had made his life miserable. Louie seemed to be a person who never prayed for help, but when difficult times arise in his life,

In the first couple years after the war Louie was set on murdering the man who ruined him. A few years later, Louie was filled with forgiveness, “Thoughts of murder no longer had a home in him” (Hillenbrand). This thought that Louie had is an excellent sign that he is a changed man and that he is beginning to forgive what happened. A little later, Louie comes to the conclusion that he needed to go back to Japan. There he saw all of his previous captors except for the cruelest of them all, the Bird. When Louie heard about the fate of the Bird, “ Something shifted sweetly inside him. It was forgiveness, beautiful and effortless and complete. For Louie Zamperini, the war was over” (Hillenbrand 386). Louie no longer had the Bird haunting over him. Before Louie had left Japan, Louie had done something that the captors where completely surprised by “[they] watched him come to them, his hands extended, a radiant smile on his face” (Hillenbrand 387). Louie has no animosity towards the men because he finally feels free from the chains of the war. The faith Louie was able to develop during and years after the war allowed Louie to finally forgive those who made his past