Anthony Zamperini Unbroken Research Papers

Chapters 6–11 relate the beginnings of Louie’s WWII career in the American military. In September 1941, Louie was drafted and eventually assigned to the Army Air Corps. He trained as a bombardier, flying in the clunky but powerful B-24 Liberator planes. Stationed in Oahu, Hawaii, Louie and his crewmates joined in the fight against Japan that was taking place all across the Pacific Ocean (referred to as the “Pacific Theatre”).

Who was Louis Zamperini? January 26, 1917 in a small New York home Louis Zamperini, a future Olympian and World War 2 POW of the Japanese, was born. Louis had a very common start to his life, but ended as a very inspiring person.

Louie Zamperini was a troubled boy who grew up to become a forgiving and persistent man. When Louie was a child, he would run from his problems, but soon his brother, Pete, noticed his potential. Louie ran for the track team and was accepted into the Olympics. The Olympics were canceled and he decided to join the air force. When on the plane, it went down and he was now stranded at sea with two other men. They were rescued many days later, and imprisoned by the Japanese soldiers. They went from camp to camp, abused almost all the time. This book, Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, contains the very true information about Louie Zamperini and his life journey. Throughout it you can see that Louie

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.

From 1937 to the end of world war 2 (WWII), Japan killed over 3,000,000 Prisoners of war(POWs). Some POWs including Louie Zamperini had escaped death from these camps. Back in America, Japanese-Americans, like Jeanne Wakatsuki had to face racial discrimination in the Japanese internment camps. This all happened because on December 7, 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Louie Zamperini from Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, is an Olympic running who joined the Air Force after WWII broke out. Jeanne Wakatsuki from Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, is a Japanese-American that lives in America during WWII. Louie Zamperini and Jeanne Wakatsuki’s experiences from being a POW are very similar yet different in their involvement throughout the war, their resilience during the war, and their struggles after the war.

During the time Louis Zamperini served in the military, World War II was at a devastating point, affecting millions of Americans and others throughout the world. At this time, World War II was one of the most tragic wars, with hardship, pain, trials and triumphs. This brave Army Air Force bomber proved that there were many heroes and some of their stories longed to be shared. In May of 1943, Louis Zamperini's life changed for the worse during a flight over the Pacific Ocean. Louis Zamperini showed significant amounts of courage by experiencing a terrifying plane crash and survival, being a Japanese Prisoner of War (POW), and enduring brutal treatment by Japanese Sergeant Mutsuhiro Watanabe (The Bird.) His story tells of extreme acts

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

Laura Hillenbrand’s biography titled Unbroken recounts the life of Louie Zamperini and major events that occurred throughout it. Hillenbrand’s purpose was to emphasize the inspirational story of heroic Zamperini as he qualified and participated in the Olympics, as well as describe the endless struggle of pain in the plane crash and in the Japanese POW camps. She also portrays the importance of dignity and resilience and how without it, the chances of surviving the cruel events Louie experienced during World War II would have been minimal.

Laura Hillenbrand’s central idea in her novel Unbroken is to tell an autobiography about Louie Zamperini life. Some issues that she covers are his youth days his adulthood and finally his time in the Japanese prison camp. The issues that she discusses in her autobiography are more of his harsh life conditions lost at sea and in the prison camp. Being a young Italian boy in the U.S. During the years of the early 1900’s it was a rough life for Louie and his family because they always had something against them. Certain people didn't like them and he was always getting picked on growing up.

Despite everything that Louie endured at the camp for prisoners of war (POWs), he was alive, he was always moving forward and the main thing - he stayed strong. Once, the chief of the camp the Bird forced Louie “to lift it (wooden beam) high and hold it directly over his head” (p.301). For Zamperini it was more than hard but he did it. “He felt his consciousness slipping, his mind losing adhesion, until all he knew was a simple thought: “He cannot break me”.

Louie Zamperini: Olympian, War Hero, Role Model Author, Laura Hillenbrand, in the biography Unbroken, narrates Louie Zamperini’s thrilling journey through World War II. Hillenbrand’s storyline goes into heart wrenching detail of the excruciating experiences Zamperini endured. Throughout, and particularly, when Louie’s war plane Green Hornet crashes, the author portrays the ideals of never giving up and self-determination through diction, imagery, and pathos. Throughout Unbroken, Hillenbrand continuously uses a variety of diction to keep the readers attached. Specifically, when Louie’s plane has engine failure and plunges into the Pacific, the author uses very tense and powerful word choice in order to show uncertainty and to create suspense.

Once The Bird figured out things have been stolen from his men, he instantly assumed it was Louie. The Bird decided his punishment would be that everyone in the camp would have to punch him one time in the face. With roughly a couple hundred people throughout all of the camp, Louie was surely in for a beating. Throughout the beating it was said that The Bird was “watching with fierce erotic pleasure”

In the book, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie Zamperini was majorly obsessed with vengeance throughout the end of the book that his life was consumed by the quest for it. Louie felt as if the Bird had stolen his dignity at the POW campsites, where he was beaten, humiliated, starved, and stripped of his powers of self-defense. Louie was overwhelmed with his anger that the only objective he sought was to get revenge on the Bird. In other words, Louie was angered about his loss of dignity at the POW campsite, he wanted to get revenge on the Bird by killing him, and how Louie eventually forgives the Bird for what he did to him. These three reasons show how Louie’s loss of self-dignity in the POW camp was pursued.

Imagine what it would take to one day be competing as an Olympic athlete, soon after find yourself stranded on a life raft for forty-seven days, only to be captured as a prisoner of war (POW) for the next twenty-five months. This is exactly what Louis Zamperini did and he lived through it all too be a visionary and ethical leader until the day he died. In this paper I will explain how through all ups and downs of Zamperini’s life he used the elements of adaptability and transactional leadership behavior of contingent rewards. I will also explain how he was an ethical leader by showcasing his resiliency and how his actions fit into the Air Force Core Value of service before self. I will also explain Zamperini’s actions relate to a few instances of me showing similar traits in my actions. First I will explain how Zamperini acted as a visionary leader.

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