Unbroken Research Paper

Laura Hillenbrand chose to present Unbroken as the life story of an Olympic runner who happened to be captured as a prisoner of war, rather than a man whose only story is that of the war. However, much of the focus is his experiences in several different Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, and how it affected the rest of his life. Hillenbrand walks the reader’s through Louie’s life to help them understand and empathize with what he went through. The time spent on his childhood and career is meant to get the

Hillenbrand, L. (2010). Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience, and redemption. New York: Random House.

The main character is named Louis Zamperini. The name of the book is Unbroken. The author is Laura Hillenbrand. Louie was born in January 26, 1917. He was born in Olean New York. He is Important because he was on a bomber that crashed in the Pacific Ocean and was captured by the Japanese and survived their torture. He was born into anti-Italian bias and started smoking when he was 5 and drinking when he was 8.

Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand tells the story of a boy named Louis Zamperini. Who in spite of great challenges, manages to rise to the occasion during a time of war. My late grandfather, Robert J. Randle fought in that very same war. Although he is not able to tell me himself what the war was like and what he had done, I was able to find evidence of his most prestigious accomplishments. Much like Louis, Robert was unmoving in the face of adversity.

He lived in a tiny prisoner of war camp by the Japanese for two years being fed very little and often unfit things to eat in general. Harsh labor was forced upon him and the other prisoners which broke them down the very last bit. An old friend that Zamperini met during his time at the olympics ended up being on of the prisoner guards at his prisoner of war camp. He treated Louie awfully, beating him, scolding him and forcing pain upon him in multiple ways. However, Zamperini, being the strong, independent, and determined person that he is he persevered past him not matter what challenges he was thrown into. The Bird, was what Zamperini and the other men in the prisoner camps named his old friend that he met at the Olympics, he treated Zamperini awfully and made him hold a wooden beam over his head and if he dropped then he would be shot. In the novel the author writes about his experience while holding the beam “Louie locked his eyes on the Bird’s face, radiating hatred.”, he showed perseverance and determination in this quote because even though he was being threatened with his life he would not accept defeat from his enemies (Hillenbrand 301). When Zamperini was finally released home after World War II finally ended he was relieved yet still had horrible nightmares from his time spent on the prisoner camp island, Kwajalein. He was unable to overcome his fears

Louie is a wise person, but can have his moments of messing up. At the age of 18, Louie enlisted in the army. As his life continued Louie went and fought against the Japanese, including once where the B-4 was shot down. The book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, describes Louie with the character traits determined and resilient.

This man caused Louie to drink and to smoke, he became terrified to sleep due to the pain and the way he wanted so bad to get revenge. The Bird made Louie come extremely close to ruining his marriage and gave him an unsettling mindset from the thoughts of The Bird so intensely that he was scared he would injure someone in his sleep: “Louie was straddling Cynthia's chest, his hands locked around her neck. Through her closing throat, she was screaming. Louie was strangling his pregnant wife” (373). Louie was lucky, lucky he did not kill his wife, or hurt her, or kill his baby, he was lucky to have a wife as kind as Cynthia to stay by his side and not let him go. Luck once again was rushing through Louie’s life as Cynthia could’ve ended this marriage in a heartbeat, but instead took Louie to a preacher named Billy to retrieve him help so he would understand what wrong he is doing: “Cynthia stayed in the hall, listening to the neighbor. When she returned to the apartment, she told Louie that she wanted him to take her to hear Graham speak” (378). At the sound of God, Louie started to believe, he changed once more and went back to having a strong mind. A simple promise that Louie remembered to keep him strong and to keep him fighting to stay determined: “If you will save me, I will serve you forever” (382). Louie became a better man and from that moment

Louie Zamperini’s Survival In The Camps Prisoners of war (POWs) can feel invisible by the captors. Louie’s experiences are like no other. As a troubled child Louie brawled with others and was thought to be feebleminded. His brother Pete saw potential in Louie, and made him into a star athlete.

After the plane crashed, it was not long until Louie and Phil noticed that Mac had eaten all the chocolate that was supposed to help them survive. “The realization that Mac had eaten their only food rolled hard over Louie. He knew they could die without it, but he quelled the thought”(107). This explains how Louie forgave Mac for eating the chocolate even though it made life harder. When they was stranded at sea with no water and no food, he prayed to the Lord to quench their thirst. “They bowed their heads together as Louie prayed. If God would quench their thirst, he vowed, he’d dedicate his life to him”(117). In order to dedicate his life to God, he would have to forgive himself for the wrong that he’d committed as a boy and as a man. When Louie was rescued from the POW camp, all he wanted was revenge on “The Bird”, but after attending a Billy Graham convention, he’d changed his mind on all of it. “But thoughts of murder no longer had a home in him”(217). He had finally let go of the hate he had toward “The Bird” and forgave him. It might have been difficult for Louie to get past the horrible things that had happened in his life, but he was the forgiving man that Hillenbrand described him to be in the

Louie was a rebellious in his childhood he would steal things and he would drink and smoke. First reason Louie was acting up since he was a small child “In 1919, when two year old Louie was sick with pneumonia,

Louis fought to save the lives of his best friends: "Then I noticed two crewmen about 20 feet away clinging to the side of a gas-tank float. I managed to grab onto a portion of a nylon parachute cord that was attached to an inflatable life raft. I climbed in, unhooked the oars, and rowed over to pick up our pilot, Russell Phillips, who was badly injured, and pulled him up into the raft. Then Francis McNamara, our tail-gunner, made it in. We were the only three survivors of the eleven-man crew." After a near to death casualty, Louie used the last of his energy to save the men who stood by him. For true strength is putting others' needs before your

Empathy for the future chicken going through the pecking process is clearly made reference to in the story. Band Aid Chicken remembers how it felt to be pecked and does not want to participate in the process. For that reason, Band aid Chicken stops the ritual of pecking by shouting “Stop bullying! Stand up for yourself and others.” Positivity and courage are exhibited additionally when she decided to do what was right instead of what everyone else was doing, subsequently changing the social

Gonna tell you little bit about what you do you comin’ through the woods, you find a man wounded in his chest. You gotta seal it off. That wound workin’ like a valve, pullin’ in air, makin’ pressure to collapse that man’s lung; you get him to breathe out and hold his breath. You apply the metal-foil side a the waterproof wrapping of the first-aid dressing, tie it off. Gonna hafta tie it extra; you use your poncho, his poncho, you get strips of cloth. You tear up you own damn shirt. I don’t care. You let that boy have his lung. You let him breathe.” (Rabe, 55-56). This training is specific to saving the life of and relying on your fellow soldiers. Sergeant Tower is determined that all recruits under his care learn the valuable lessons of how to survive. Again, Sergeant Tower gives sage advice on survival when he teaches the soldiers how to kill in hand-to-hand combat when he states, “This here real life, Gen’lmen. You actin’ like there ain’t never been a war in this world. Don’t you know what I’m sayin’? You got to want to put this steel into a man. You got to want to cut him, hurt him, make him die. (Rabe 38). This lesson in survival describes brutal killing in a kill or be killed scenario. The dominant technique that Rabe has Sergeant Tower express multiple times throughout the story is the ability

"We were meant to be perfectly imperfect." We were meant to have scars, we were meanf to have flaws. Flaws aren't always beastly, they are a unique piece of you. Don't walk around ashamed of your insecurities for those may be the best qualities someone sees in you. Not everyday is a bad day, and the truth is a bad day only last 24 hours. And always remember, It's not selfish to love yourself, it's not selfish to make yourself a priority, but it's selfish to make people feel like they shouldn't. To make someone feel better, if you think they looking bomb asf, tell them they look bomb asf. You never know how good your comment will make another feel. But what you need to know is you shouldn't enforce someone to change, that's selfish. Authenticity

     Henry’s hopes and confidence are suddenly crushed when the enemy reappears and Henry finds himself running from his post with the others and his worst fears are realized in this testimonial. Henry is still in the stages of development and although he overcomes his first testimonial, he still is a “fresh fish” in many ways. Henry suffers from shame when he realizes that his comrades have all held in line. Henry tries to justify with himself that he did the natural thing: run. This was what the squirrel did when he threw a pine at it and it was only natural to run to steer away from danger. Later, Henry encounters the tattered soldier and several men who display their “red badge of courage.” Henry wishes he had a wound displaying courage. The only wound Henry possesses is in his soul since he has such low self-esteem. It is the death of Jim Conklin, the epitome of courage, that makes Henry begin to realize the realities of war as he is beginning to encounter more with death. “The red sun was pasted in the sky like a wafer (Crane, 71).” The sun seems to be a symbol of Jim’s wound and of courage (Solomon).  The death of Jim Conklin represented Henry’s childhood and the tattered soldier represents Henry’s idealized self, which is dying. Henry is deserting the image he had of himself before he joined