There comes a time in life when perseverance shows one’s true potential. The story“Unbroken” written by Laura Hillenbrand shows legendary runner Louie Zamperini and showed how he truly represented that. Throughout this story it displays what the true meaning of perseverance; whether, it’s something as little as staying committed to track or fighting in World War Two and trying to fight for life even if there seems like there’s nothing to fight for. If someone is commited no matter the time or the difficulty that doesn’t just show perseverance, but it shows one’s true ability to fight for and try for something they want to accomplish. Louie Zamperini was a trouble maker, thief, and one to waste true potential, but he began running and with
On January 26th, 1917, Louie Zamperini was born to an immigrant Italian family that lived in New York. His family consisted of his mom (Louise), dad (Anthony), brother (Pete), and his two sisters (Sylvia and Virginia). In 1919 they decided to move to California and his father got a job as a railway electrician. As Louie got older he became more and more of a troublemaker. He would steal almost anything from the town. In the 1930’s eugenics started to take off in America. Louie realized that if he didn’t shape up his act, people would start targeting him. After Louie gets in trouble for sneaking kids into a basketball game, Pete convinces him to join track. This is when Louie starts outrunning what’s after him… literally.
In the beginning of the Louis Zamperini’s biography, he, relentlessly made “inconsiderate” decisions which led him into lots of trouble: “Louie was never more than an inch from juvenile hall or jail, and as a serial troublemaker”(11).Louie played pranks and pulled dangerous stunts such as breaking into homes on occasions and smoking and drinking by the age of five. He even deflated teachers’ car tires after he received
Louie Zamperini demonstrates perseverance all throughout his life. For example, when Louie was training for track, he worked all day. As said in Unbroken, “[Louie] trained so hard that he rubbed the skin right off one of his toes, leaving his sock bloody. (1.3.9)”, is one many may glimpse over without giving it much thought. But, this quote shows how much Louie wanted to win, how much he needed to be number one. Louie would work until he was physically beat, but by analyzing this quote for just a moment more, one would realize that although he was physically hurting, his inner strength was stronger than ever. He knew what he wanted and was going to work until he got it. Louie’s perseverance in all that he
The tenet perseverance applies to my own life out of taekwondo and my taekwondo journey to get my black belt in multiple ways. This tenet helps me in my life and in my journey by helping me to never give up and reach higher goals in life.
He began smoking and drinking from a young age. However, his escape from whenever he was in trouble was to run, he ran away from home multiple times but never making it far. In a desperate attempt for redemption, Louie’s brother Pete talked with the track coach and got him onto the track team. Pete trained him hard and soon enough Louie quit his bad habits and focused all his time into becoming a better runner. He joined cross country and was finishing meets ¼ of a mile ahead of the other runners (2).
Louie Zamperini is a very inspiring character. From a troublemaker thief to a record breaker to a hero he turned himself around. It’s not about the mistakes you make in life its what you do about them and that was the biggest takeaway from this book.
Running allowed for the young Louie Zamperini to escape his trouble making past by showing him hope in the form of a future of acceptance. After his brother convinced the principal not to ban Louie Zamperini from all athletic and social activities, Mr Zamperini joined track because, “ Some girls began assembling a team for an interclass track meet… the girls worked their charms, and Louie found himself on the track.” This conveys that when Louie Zamperini found track he gained hope that he could have a future of acceptance from the people around him without having to cause trouble (Hillenbrand 15). This is in contrast to when he had smuggled people into sporting events using a key he found which made him popular with students but got him in trouble with the teachers. Since Zamperini craved attention and since he gained it through trouble, when he found a way to earn positive attention through running, Zamperini took it.
Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken recounts Louie Zamperini's incredible life. The novel contains extreme obstacles that Zamperini overcame in his life, in which motifs of survival, resilience, and redemption emerge. Zamperini, a former Olympic athlete, survived a record-breaking forty-seven days at sea and then survived two years in Japanese Prisoner of War camps. Zamperini persisted and never lost faith even when the Bird constantly tormented him till near death. In Unbroken Hillenbrand correctly argues that with perseverance and Christianity one can overcome the most forbidding of obstacles.
According to the great retired olympian track athlete Gail Devers, “Sometimes we fall, sometimes we stumble, but we can’t stay down. We can’t allow life to beat us down. Everything happens for a reason, and it builds character in us, and it tells us what we are about and how strong we really are when we didn’t think we could be that strong.” In Unbroken, a biography written by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis Zamperini illustrates Devers’ words with his resilience, springing back after his World War II bomber crashed and enemy forces captured him. In the end Louis’ ability to make due with every hellish situation life threw at him that influenced Hillenbrand’s aspired survival story.
Every human being on the planet has a limit. Whether it be mentally, physically or emotionally, people all have a breaking a point, a place where the line must be drawn. This is a simple fact that all humans know, an instinctive knowledge that lives in the bones of humanity. But when people witness others enduring situations that would crush most people underfoot, the dirt, grit and struggle that these heroes crawl through to stay alive, it amazes everyone. That is why it is easy to understand how anyone might admire Louie Zamperini. A child rebel as stubborn as a bull turned into a war hero who survived what no one else could even fathom- Louie Zamperini is far from a weak man as described in “Unbroken”, written by Laura Hillenbrand. But there was
Louie is like a great, inspirational person, why? Well because in the beginning he started to steal,smoke at a young age,and getting in trouble. But then his brother Pete taught him to become a track runner for the track team, and he raised up and light up the sky as he ran and later on, he became an olympic runner. As mentioned Louie had lots of difficulties throughout his life. For example, smoking,stealing,drinking and in such a young age he did all that. While his brother Pete was the good kid. It was like Louie was the bad side, and Pete being the good side. Throughout the story of Unbroken,(by Laura Hillenbrand), Louie Zamperini evinces his character traits of resilient and optimism throughout his actions.
Track star Gail Devers once said, “Sometimes we fall, sometimes we stumble, but we can't stay down. We can’t allow life to beat us down. Everything happens for a reason, and it builds character in us, and it tells us what we are about and how strong we really are when we didn't think we could be that strong.” In the nonfiction book Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, the determined Louis Zamperini showed that life could not beat him down, and never gave up, not even in the light of the impossible. Louie’s strong minded determination continues to be a factor in his survival until the very end.
Imagine your a young girl in Afghanistan under Taliban rule and your father is kidnapped and put in prison, now what are you going to do without a father to get money for the family. The word Perseverance: Means to not stop doing something no matter how hard the task is or the danger you will face during it. The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is a book about a suffering family in Afghanistan taken over by the Taliban, and one day the family's father is taken away and imprisoned, and a girl in the family has to dress as a boy to feed her fatherless family. In the book The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis there are many instances in which Parvana demonstrates perseverance through her actions and choices.
One of the many quotes that develops perseverance is “Five minutes passed, then ten. Louie’s arms began to waver and go numb. His body shook. The beam tipped. The guard jabbed Louie with his gun, and Louie straightened up. Less and less blood was reaching his head, and he began to feel confused, his thoughts gauzy, the camp swimming round him. He felt his consciousness slipping, his mind losing adhesion, until all he knew was a single thought: He cannot break me. Across the compound, the Bird had stopped laughing” (Hillenbrand 296). This describes Louie’s perseverance through him holding a up a wooden beam for thirtyseven minutes which to most people doesn’t sound that difficult, but to a war prisoner thirty-seven minutes is a matter of life or death. Another quote is, “ I’m free! I’m free! I’m free” (Hillenbrand 307). Though this quote seems small and insignificant, it’s one of the most compelling there is because by saying he’s free Louie knows that he has persevered through two and a half years of straight torture in which he says later in the book that if he had to do it all over again, he’d kill himself. These two quotes along with many others shows the theme of perseverance by Louie Zamperini in
When times get tough many people’s first instinct is to give up. Even though it seems easier it’s not always the best option. Perseverance should be something that you think of when times get rough. The three texts that show perseverance are “ Mother & Son,” “ Trapeze Comic,” and “ Saudi Arabia’s Freedom Riders.”