During World War II, a period of complete violence and outbreak between nations, there are many heroes that have endured through harsh brutalities. In Laura Hillenbrand’s monumental book Unbroken, she writes about the real life story of Louie Zamperini. As a young child, Louie was very mischievous and dangerous.” Hillenbrand states,” He hit one kid so hard that he broke his nose. He upended another boy and stuffed paper towels in his mouth… Louie beat one kid so badly, leaving him unconscious in a ditch, that he was afraid he’s killed him (pg 10).”
World War II left the world with the worst horrors in history. These horrors include the Holocaust, in which millions of innocent Jews and civilians were used for labor and killed, and the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, the more unknown horror of World War II is the way the POWs of the Japanese were treated during war, which violated war laws. POWs, prisoners of war, of the Japanese were starved, forced into labor for the military, tortured, humiliated, received little to no medical treatment and worst of all killed; Louie S. Zamperini experienced this horror. Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction novel Unbroken tells the story of Louie Zamperini’s life before, during, and after the war.
The Inclusion of Unbroken in the DCHS Curriculum Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, tells the story of a war hero named Louie Zamperini. Louie is challenged with pure evil and the trauma of the gruesome prisoner-of-war camps of WWII. Laura writes this book about the setting of WWII. In this time many soldiers of the war were taken into prisoner-of-war camps where soldiers experienced unbearable treatment. Louie Zamperini is among the soldiers who became prisoners of war.
Will Schwartz Politics and Ethics 10.20.17 The Right To Kill Whether one agrees or disagrees with the idea that a government has the ability to punish their citizens with death, it is hard to argue that our judiciary system is capable of wielding such power. The flaws that unarguably plague the US justice system make it impossible for our government to fairly distribute and regulate death as a form of punishment. Within the novel Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson outlines his time fighting for the rights of accused individuals inside and outside death row; as well as fighting against those who abuse power granted to them by the justice system.
In the article, “Against Antiheroes”, Laura Bennett demonstrates the characterizations of an antihero, while providing information that allows the antihero to be depicted as prevalent. An antihero is defined as a person that does not possess heroic attributes, and may be seen as selfish, corrupt, or sullen. Antiheroes usually tend to acquire the sympathy of another individual, causing them to become relatable, as seen as Bennett writes, “‘Antihero’ implies that a character encourages a conflicted sympathy; Walt forfeited our sympathy long ago” (472). Bennett’s characterization of an antihero demonstrates a sense of an internal struggle on behalf of the audience and the hero. An antihero may appear to be haunted by a tragic past, encounters
Mosquitoes are killing everyone. It may sound like a grisly nightmare, but this somewhat occurred in the late 1700s. Yellow fever started from mosquitoes transmitting their virus to humans after arriving in the United States and led to an infectious and deadly outbreak across Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson tells the story of a girl living through the virus and battling with the hardships and loss that comes with an epidemic. It utilizes and connects conflicts, characterization, and themes to evolve the story and make it entertaining.
The plot of the story “Volar”, is about a twelve year old child that has a love for superheroes. The story is told in first person by the child. For the majority of the story she is telling us about her dream of flying. She and her parents live in a barrio, which as a Spanish-speaking neighborhood in the United States. She and her parents moved to the United States recently from Puerto Rico.
In the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, who is an attorney, guides us through his life in Alabama and how he helps defend innocent, poor people and children on death row who were wrongly convicted. Nearly 44,000 youth are incarcerated in juvenile justice facilities. Currently an estimated 250,000 youth are tried, sentenced, or incarcerated as adults every year across the United States. While some may argue that young adult offenders should be tried and punished as adults to ensure that their actions do not reoccur, the United States Justice Systems should implement rehabilitation and less harsh punishments for younger offenders to fully develop and mature.
Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy exposes several ethical failures that permeate the criminal justice system, reflecting a profound disregard for human dignity and justice. Firstly, the book highlights the systemic racism that unjustly targets minorities (Stevenson, 2014). The disproportionate incarceration of African Americans, despite constituting a small percentage of the population, is a testament to the biased application of laws and policies. The pervasive racial profiling, leading to discriminatory arrests and excessive bail amounts, further perpetuates this injustice. Secondly, Stevenson highlights indigent defendants' lack of adequate legal representation (Stevenson, 2014).
Mercy, a concept describing compassion or forgiveness towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. As a humanitarian, future world leader and citizen of America I’d like to think that the world I live in is a forgiving place where everyone gets a second chance. Unfortunately, in the court of law, this is not always true. By reading Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson I found that it is very hard to acquire justice and redemption to many civilians who have been incarcerated. This book explores various stories of injustices in the judicial system by incorporating people from different racial groups, socioeconomic background, mental disabilities and more.
The book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson brings awareness to the unfairness in the justice system and in our federal prisons. Incarceration of citizens suffering with mental health issues is a problem in our U.S prisons and the justice system but there are solutions to this problem like offering different programs to the mentally ill. In the book Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson gives a glimpse of the cruel, unjust sentencing practices problems we have with our justice system. Our prisons are flooded with inmates who suffer from a mental illness and with correction officers who are not properly trained to handle inmates who suffer from this hidden illness.
Food is essential to a growing child and while she may have grown accustomed to hunger pains, Francie was deprived of important nutrients. When the family did have food, it was often only bread or inexpensive meat; vegetables were not by any means a staple in the Nolan’s diet, causing their immune systems to suffer. In addition to this, Francie had to work rather than continue her education, because her family desperately needed money after her father’s death. Much of Francie’s young life revolved around school and her writing, making school very meaningful to her. The fact
As Helen Keller once quoted, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken tells the life story of Louis “Louie” Zamperini. Through his troubles as a child, emerged a strong-willed Olympic runner, who later became a military aviator. He was lost at sea and then captured by the Japanese as a prisoner of war. He endured years of abuse and suffering but still managed to stay true to who he was.
To fly is to be free as one would think will observing birds in midflight. They gracefully fall to earth then at the last second pull up in such a wide arc, it would seem they were soaring to the heavens. In the story Volar by Judith Ortiz Cofer in the story the symbolic meaning of flight is significant in two of the main characters. The Daughter sees flight as her means of protection, as it is often known that people that are fascinated by flight want to be away from conflict, thus using flight as a means of protection or getting away. The Mother sees flight as her escape to a better time, as in the story she talks about returning home to Puerto Rico, yet her husband cannot afford it so she sees flight as her means of turning back the clock to a happier time.
How would you react if police officers appeared at your doorstep to arrest your father on your seventeenth birthday? In The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall, Sadie Woodbury’s birthday party turns into a nightmare after her father, George Woodbury, is accused of an inconceivable offence. George, a respected teacher, loses his dignity after being arrested on the basis of sexual misconduct with his students. Initially, George’s family members blindly stand by his side without questioning the possibility of his crime. But after the community turns cruel towards them, George’s wife, Joan is split between denial and animosity.
