In the novel, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie is tortured by being dehumanized and isolated while being a POW. Throughout the book, Louie is being treated poorly by his captors, but resisted giving up. One example is in chapter 17, Louie was being transported to a camp and is put on the ground. The text states, “Louie said something to Phil and immediately felt a boot kick into him...” (page 181).
Louie was known for doing things that he was not supposed to, “When Louie came home drenched in oil after diving into an oil rig well and nearly drowning, it took a gallon of turpentine and a lot of scrubbing before his father recognized him again. Thrilled by the crashing of boundaries, Louie was untamable. In Torrance, a rebel was born.” (7) This shows Louie in a rebellious look because without thinking he would do things that could have gotten him killed. He would slipshod for a lot of things he thought were fun.
In the memoir Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand and Louie Zamperini show that having a determined mindset can help get through the horrors of POW camps. The POW camp Louie was in was terrible. He would get beaten everyday for no reason and be forced to do hard labor. The author uses words such as “broken”, “fractured, and “shattered” and paired them with the word “POW” to show that the Japanese soldiers had no mercy against the American soldiers. Throughout the POW camp terrible things happen to Louie and he is forced to see horrible events.
For starters, he is a very tenacious man. He never gives up and always tries his hardest. When Louie is in the raft, he never thought for one minute about giving up, because he knew that if he did, he would die. The author says, “Louie was determined that no matter what happened to their bodies, their minds would stay under their control” (Hillenbrand 145). What Louie is trying to do is to keep them sane and not
In the beginning of his story, Louie constantly stole
As a boy who frequently found himself running away from the police, Louie’s perseverance defined him even in childhood. Louie stated, “‘...and then I ran like mad.’ He was often
In the beginning of Hillenbrand's biography Unbroken, Louie showed a substantial amount of eagerness as a young and reckless delinquent. A daring child, Louie always found trouble; stealing food, drinking alcohol, pulling pranks, he did it all. As Louie matures, he began to grow out of his childish acts, and his running career would begin; “Louie hated running, but the
Laura Hillenbrand’s novel Unbroken, a biography about the thrilling life of Louis Zamperini, and now a major motion picture, continues to be read in high schools all over the country. It contains many dynamic characters, symbols, and themes. Out of all the great choices, this research paper focuses on the character changes of Francis McNamara, the symbolic nature of the sharks, and the theme of survival and resilience. Francis McNamara, the tail gunner of the B-24 nicknamed “Green Hornet”, was one of the three survivors of the plane crash in the Pacific Ocean. Mac after the first night on the water, panicked and ate all of the rations meant to feed the man until possible rescue (Hillenbrand, page number).
Laura Hillenbrand’s choice to write Unbroken in third person benefits the book. After tieing with Lash for the Olympic qualifying 5,000m race and making the Olympic team, “... Sylvia returned from work the next day, the house was packed with well-wishers and newsmen. Louie’s 12 year old sister, Virginia, clutched one of Louie’s trophies and told reporters of her plans to be the next great Zamperini runner.”
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.
Louie himself began to worry as well, and he even takes to reading western novels and dreaming about running away from home. Eventually, Louie does try to run away from home, but his plan fails miserably when he is kicked off of a train and is forced to walk home over the spam of two days. Louie’s brother Pete convinces him to join track at school. Although Louie hates running, he is very good at it, and he enjoys the feeling of winning.
He learned this from his brother when he was told this as he got on the train, "A life time of glory is worth a moment of pain. " This is where perseverance comes into play. Even with all this suffering he still strived until the end. Starting off when he first began to run, he didn't think he was any good and wanted to quit, but his brother wouldn't let him. Louie went from somebody with a dark future to a superstar in his home town, because of how bad he wanted to be a great runner. "
He knew what God had done for him, and forgiveness replaced his bitterness. “In bewilderment, the men who had abused him watched him come to them, his hands extended, a radiant smile on his face” (Hillenbrand, 2010, P.380). If Hillenbrand would have left this part out of the book and ended Louie’s journey when the war was over, Unbroken would be much less impactful and the point of Louis Zamperini’s life would have been missed. I only wish this portion of the book was put more emphasis
In the movie, it defined which Louie was once an immoral person in his pre-war life. As a child, Louie grows up in his neighborhood; at the time, he expressed this defiance in an inappropriate and destructive ways. He steals and snatches from the local businesses and the neighborhood. His beloved older brother, Pete, gave Louie a new challenge: running. Louie poured his determination into the training, through physical and mental resilience—eventually Louie emerging as an Olympian who competed at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, is a nonfiction novel that recounts the life of Louis Zamperini, who was a former Olympic athlete and World War II veteran, who survived being out at sea for 47 days and imprisoned in multiple Japanese war camps. Through his story of immense torture on his body and mind, Louis’ experience is an inspiring story of resilience, perseverance, and survival against tremendous odds. The author's main claim in Unbroken is that the human spirit can overcome the most unimaginable circumstances, and that a strong will to persevere and survive, can triumph over many hardships. Throughout the book, the author provides several examples of perseverance and will to survive.
