Foreshadowing In Unbroken

In her nationally acclaimed book, Unbroken, author Laura Hillenbrand brings to light a memorable tale about a World War II pilot who defies the odds and manages to survive a terrible event and live to old age. The story begins when twelve-year-old Louis Zampernini observes a massive German dirigible in the sky and is mesmerized with it. Although he is fascinated with the dirigible, planes terrify him, which could be taken by the reader as a kind of foreshadowing. Louis spends his days wreaking havoc by stealing food. Because of his impressive running skills, he is able to outrun anyone who tries to catch him. One of his biggest feats occurs when Louis, who discovers that any key has a “one-in-fifty” chance of fitting in any lock, helps a

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. After his escape attempt, Louie begins to devote his time to running the mile. The more he trains, the more record he breaks. After shattering his high school records, Louie starts to train for the Olympics. However, even after his extensive training, Louie worries that he will not make the cut. He does, despite his worries. After a train ride in the sweltering heat, Louie manages a photo finish at the Olympic trial. The radio announces that Louie has won, but it is soon released that he placed second. Although he has a second-place finish, Louie makes the Olympic team, and is the youngest distance runner to ever do so. Louie and the rest of the team take the luxury ship the Manhatten to Germany, where Hitler is encouraging German patriotism because of the Olympics. During the races, Louie only comes in seventh place because some of the other runners play dirty. Despite his poor finish, Louie breaks a final-lap record

Hillenbrand spared no detail, which really allowed the reader to realize just how awful the situations could be. I respect both the amount of work she put forth in creating the biography and the degree of care with which she handled the information. The story of Louie Zampernini will encourage young people to persevere, no matter their circumstances, and it will assist many people in realizing exactly how easy their lives are as compared to someone who has lived through horrific events such as the Japanese camps. I do hope that this biography will inspire others in much the same way as it has inspired me - it has encouraged me to work hard and to never give