Louie's Short Story: The Story Of The Zeppelin

To commence Louie’s story of bravery and survival, the reader is introduced to the journey of the Graf Zeppelin circumnavigating the globe, and to snippets from the locations it visited. In short, the story of the zeppelin is a simple example of exposition, as the reader is shown the unrest establishing in countries such as Germany and Japan in the pre-World War II era during its journey. However, the true power of the quote lies in the way it affects Louie. Hillenbrand uses a negative-positive in describing that “it was not a great presence but a great absence”. This negative-positive demonstrates the profound effects it had on Louie, as he stared at it transfixed. Louie wasn 't lured to the sight because of what is was, but because of what it was not. He was intrigued by the power a sight such as that could hold without anything being visible. The sight was so grand and

As Louie is leaving his family to join the Air Force, Hillenbrand takes the moment to comment on the emotional effect on the families of soldiers. She does this by illustrating the scene of the family’s last photo before Louie goes missing. The camera can be recognized as symbolizing a unified, happy family. However, the Zamperini family is unable to realize this because of the glare of war. The glare is tearing the families gaze away, such as war is tearing Louie away. All readers can connect with the pain of staring into a bright glare, so it is an effective use of symbolizing the pain of war, as more people can connect to it. It is unbearable to lose a child, but similar in the Zamperini’s struggles to look at the camera, they will struggle to believe Louie 's death. This persistence to believe in Louie 's survival is an added example of how determination can help people through tough times. As it was their belief that kept the Zamperini family strong and looking on. Overall, Hillenbrand reminds the reader that behind every soldier is a loving family an that determination is a