Topic 1
The biography, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand was about the life of Louis and what troubles he faced while being kept as a POW in the Japanese camps during World War II. Louis and the other POWs faced horrendous conditions and were neglected throughout their time at the camps. There were strict rules placed on the captives but many of them found ways to break them. The POW camps served many purposes for the Japanese, but the conditions that the POWs faced at these camps were extremely severe. Unbroken displayed the hardships that Louis and the other POWs faced while being kept as a POW.
The POW camps had multiple roles. Their main purpose was to prison the foreign troops that had been captured. While they prisoned the troops, many of
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The POWs were starved and dehydrated for most of their times spent at the camps, until they had been saved or passed away. Louis recalls one of his daily meals consisting of boiled seaweed and a few slices of vegetables. Along with being starved, the captives were confined in dark cells for long hours every day. Most of them were not allowed to look out of their windows. When a POW disobeyed the rules they would be beaten with hands, feet, canes, and bats. Many of the guards and higher officials took out their frustration by physically harming the prisoners. The Bird, hoping to achieve a higher ranking than his given rank, took out much of his humiliation on Louis. He beat him every day and abused him because everyone was impressed by Louis’ accomplishments. Many camps would often experiment on the POWs by injecting them with different chemicals daily and seeing how they would react. This caused POWs excruciating pain and discomfort, a few would even die from the reaction. POW camps often forced their captives into labor, having them build or serve officials. After the bombing at Hiroshima many of the POWs knew they were going to be saved from the camps. “I realized this is what had ended the war. It meant we didn’t have to go hungry any loner, or go without medical treatment (p.