Unbroken, By Laura Hillenbrand: An Analysis

The novel, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand portrays some of the worst acts of atrocity in history through the retelling of Louie Zamperini’s rise to fame. Many different theories have been developed about how people and/or societies can take on such a high level of hatred and wickedness. The influences on societies lead people to fall to a level of pure hatred. The motivation behind the behavior of the Prisoner of War guards in Japan increased the elevation of harshness. Also, the chances of humans carrying the capacity for expressing such wickedness could be substantial. During the World War II, Japan committed, considerably, some of the worst acts of cruelty ever recorded in history. The influence left on Prisoner of War guards,

The effect of the negative energy left soldiers, especially Louie, scarred and feeling constrained to the point of feebleness. Coleridge writes, “The many men so beautiful!/And they all dead did lie;/ And a thousand slimy things/Lived on: and so did I” (“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”). The only way the affected can think of getting out of their misery is to gain revenge on their enemies. Louie states in Unbroken, “The Bird had taken his dignity and left him feeling humiliated, ashamed, and powerless, and Louie believed that only the Bird restore him by suffering and dying in the grip of his hands,” (Hillenbrand 373). The haunting of what was done to them causes long term pain and internal suffering. Coleridge states, “An orphan’s curse would drag to hell/ A spirit from on high; But oh! More horrible than that/ Is the curse in a dead man’s eye!/ Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,/ And yet I could not die,”(“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”). Depending on the motivation by peers and supporters, the carrying capacity for cruelty is a chance that cannot be easily