Winston Churchill once said,”success consists of going from failure without loss of enthusiasm.”Louie Zamperini, an outstanding olympian and WWll hero, keeps enthusiasm throughout his struggles and that is possibly what saved him. Louie Zamperini is portrayed in the novel Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, first as a young boy who smokes cigarettes, drinks, and takes his frustration out by fighting. In his twenties he goes to war, then returns a different man. Through his many years of suffering, it was hard but he became a better man for it.Louie Zamperini goes through a great deal of suffering in WWII which leads to him redeeming himself. Louie from childhood to adulthood has a lot of internal and external conflicts and internal conflicts, ever since he was young he was a “marked boy”(Hillenbrand 9). He never felt like he fit in. He, like his parents spoke italian which made him an easy target for bullies. …show more content…
At the P.O.W. camps the officers would have to be “Carried to the barracks”(Hillenbrand 295). But through all of this, Louie learned to forgive in his future. Louie Zamperini went through more suffering than anyone should but Louie learned to forgive through all this. When it was announced that the war was over and the care packages rained down “forgiveness coursed through all the men at Naoetsu”(HIllenbrand 322). Louie learned to forgive all of the officers in the P.O.W. camps in his later years of life and that is what ends up bringing his inner peace. When Louis Heard of Watanabe’s fate”all he saw was a lost person, a life now beyond redemption”(Hillenbrand 386).Louie didn't want to live the rest of his life with all of that bottled up hatred and in the end made him a better person. Everyone has someone they do not like. It is important to let go of that hate because in the end it is just one more problem you have to worry about. Learn to forgive just like
Louie Zamperini is the type of person that has been through a lot of pain and happiness, making Louie much more complex of a person than most people. Louie is a person who started off as mischievous and then turned that into power for running, and won a lot races breaking records. He went to join the Air Force for the army, and then one day his plane crashed into the ocean and only him and 2 others survived the crash. He was next the found by the Japanese and was sent to a POW camp, and was a victim of many war crimes. The book “Unbroken ” by Laura Hillenbrand, shows Louie’s two character traits that most defines Louie are tenacious and fractious.
Well-known nonfiction author Laura Hillenbrand, in her best-selling biography, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, describes the chilling reality faced by those living in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. As the title suggests, this is not the typical World War II tale of hardship that ends in liberation; rather, it follows the main character, Louis “Louie” Zamperini, through his childhood, Olympic performances, and military career leading up to his captivity, as well as his later marriage and many years of healing. Hillenbrand's purpose is to impress upon her readers the scale of this tragedy as well as remind them of the horror that so many nameless soldiers endured. She adopts an emotional yet straightforward tone in order to get readers to sympathize with the characters and truly understand what they went through. To do so, she manages to make the unique story of one man represent the thousands of others going through the same tragedy.
Louie’s athletic career definitely prepared him for what he would encounter in the war. Through his extensive training and unprecedented success, Louis gained a wide variety of traits and abilities that can be predicted to be essential for him as he faces the challenges of war. One obvious and major way that his athletic career prepared him for the war was by increasing his physical ability. In the novel, Louie is a long-distance runner in the 1936 Olympics, in which he placed eighth (Hillenbrand 35). Through his all encompassing physical training, Louie became extremely competent in physical endurance and strength. As it can easily be assumed, having good endurance can prove to be life-saving in war, especially in Louie was ever in a situation
During the seminar, someone asked: “Was Louie truly unbroken throughout the book?” Although this book was titled Unbroken, I believe the protagonist Louie had the spirit of being unbroken but didn’t stay unbroken throughout the book. First of all, one example of Louie having the unbroken spirit was when he was told to hold the six foot beam by the Bird. When Louie was slowly sliding into unconsciousness holding the beam, he thought: “He cannot break me” (302). Malnutrition, sickness, and other physical conditions were possessed by Louie that day, but he somehow managed to hold the beam for 37 minutes. However, Louie did not stay unbroken throughout the novel. Furthermore, the author lets us see the ‘broken Louie’ in Part V. In the beginning
From the beginning, Hillenbrand highlights a series of specific details to exaggerate Zamperini’s uncontainable personality that would carry him through the war. Page fifteen states, “To get even with a railcar conductor who wouldn’t stop for him, Louie greased the rails. When a teacher made him stand in the corner for spitballing, he deflated her car tires with toothpicks. After
First of all, the theme of survival was demonstrated throughout the book. Starting off with Zamperini surviving from the eugenics by transforming himself into an Olympian athlete in Part I, to the plane crash in Part II, next the 47 days of drifting in the Pacific Ocean in Part III, then the Japanese POW camps in Part IV, and finally overcoming his mental illness in Part V were all examples of the theme survival being demonstrated. In addition, the theme of resilience was part of the protagonist Zamperini’s personality. At the Japanese POW camp, Naoetsu, the Bird, a sadistic Japanese POW guard, tortured him and stripped away his dignity. The Bird has let Zamperini perform tasks such as holding up a six foot beam after discovering Zamperini was desperate for medical care. Being told to hold the beam or else being whacked by the guard’s gun, Zamperini held it for 37 minutes. Considering his physical condition during that time period, it was incredible how Zamperini’s mental state helped him through the difficulties of the Japanese POW camp. Lastly, Hillenbrand integrated the theme of redemption mostly in Part V. The following quote from that section explains it all. “It was forgiveness, beautiful and effortless and complete. For Louie Zamperini, the war was over” (p.386). After the war, Zamperini had nightmares of the Bird, sank into
During the second World War, an olympic record holder, Louie Zamperini, was one of the few men that got shot down into the ocean and was stranded for 47 days on a lonely, little raft. The great American hero we all have heard of didn’t start out like you would have thought. He was a young scoundrel who was influenced by his brother to run for something better than away from is problems. After years of running and going to the German Olympics to set the best lap run in the 5,000 meters, Louie had gone into the Air Force and had gotten into trouble at a Japanese POW camp after a crash. The book Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, expresses Louie’s life exceptionally well, especially
read. Louie Zamperini faces challenges such as Having to go to war when he was
Louie Zamperini had many traits but merciful is a very important one. While Louie, Phil, and Mac where on the raft, for about a day, “The realization that Mac had eaten their only food rolled hard over Louie.
Although most people will not face the extremes of which Louie did to survive they will still encounter some struggles in life. Like Louie during his hunger famine things don’t always have to be done pretty. Sometimes the resolution of one’s struggles is
The book “Unbroken” was a seemingly impossible tale of triumph and survival of an Olympic runner and WWII veteran named Louis Zamperini. He constantly had to overcome adversity in his early years, for he was an immigrant from Italy and a trouble maker before his brother Pete steered him into running track. This immediately turned him around as he did well enough to in running to break all sorts if local records, which were accomplished while his competitors were trying to sabotage his runs. This qualified him for the 1936 Olympic in Berlin, where he met Hitler. He still had running aspirations but felt he had no choice other than fighting in the world due to the fact that the 1940 Olympics were
Louie is optimistic because when they were captured, Louie was treated and respected by the Japanese. Louie and Phil had, “Two beds were made up, and the castaways were invited to rest. Slipping between cool, clean sheets, their stomachs full, their sores soothed, they were deeply grateful. Phil had a relieved thought: They are our friends.” (134) This quote explains the character trait because the Japanese gave Louie confidence again.
Laura Hillenbrand is telling us the story of Louis Zamperini. She begins from his childhood and goes on through his life with the things he does prior to the war. Although she explains these things, the main conflict in the book is Louis’ survival through the war and after. Louis learned many things about himself growing up and taught himself many key characteristics that would later save his life.
Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken is a literary masterpiece. Throughout this compelling story of Louis Zamperini uprising and downfalls, laura tells his story of how he survived his way through the grueling view of world war II and racing. Laura Hillenbrand displays many aspects about Imagery, diction, syntax and tone. There were many instances during the book Unbroken where the writing was impressive, effective and interesting.
In the book “Unbroken” written by Laura Hillenbrand is the full story of Louie Zamperini’s life. Published on November 16, 2010 by A Random House Trade publisher in New York that is a non-fiction. Hillenbrand, who could not travel to meet Louie because she has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, interviewed Louie over the phone for seven years. The book is five out of five stars for me because I truly am in love with the story of Louie and how devoted this book is to his whole life. This book shows you can start with little and make yourself rich from that.