Book Report On Unbroken

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.

In the novel Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand a passionate young man named Louie Zamperini has his life turned around by putting his efforts into track where he becomes an Olympic level athlete, but as WW2 breaks out he then enlists in the military later leaving, but only to be drafted again. After crash landing he ends up being captured by the japanese where he is tortured, and picked on by the prison commander but stays “Unbroken”. Louie is affected greatly from different cultures and ethnicities, as in this time period WW2 broke out, people who were rich were relatively untouched by the draft. WW2 in itself was the biggest clash of ethnicities, cultures, and started over anger towards other cultures.

In this astonishing World War II non-fiction novel based on a persons’ life named Louis Zamperini, there are many rhetorical strategies used to explain the many hardships of his life. The name of the novel is Unbroken. The non-fiction novel written by Laura Hillenbrand in 2010 took over 7 years to complete. The book was number two on New York Times best seller for nearly four years. Laura Hillenbrand went into extraordinary detail when creating this piece, explaining the unfortunate yet amazing life of Louis Zamperini.

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.

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

Within the story Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the author strongly emphasizes the idea that if one remains courageous and indomitable, they have the power to overcome any hardship. Through the use of rhetorical devices such as selection of detail, imagery, and symbolism, Hillenbrand speaks of Louis Zamperini’s life story which leaves the audience feeling empowered.

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

Beginning my love of reading an early age, I was never the type of child who was drawn to fictional stories. As an 8 year-old child in West Virginia, I was recognized by the local library for my love of biographies, autobiographies and recollections of world events. This love has continued throughout my adult life, desiring to read novels such as “We Were Soldiers Once…and Young” by Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore rather than watch the major motion picture “We Were Soldiers” starring Mel Gibson. Even though the motion picture received multiple awards, when reading the recollection of Mr. Moore’s accounts, the feeling of loss, distress, anxiety and fear can be felt in each word that he has written while reliving this horrendous war.

In her film, Unbroken, Angelina Jolie uses the archetype of warrior to reveal how we as humans keep fighting and believing for what we want in order to survive the greatest difficulties in life. In the movie, Louie Zamperini demonstrates the archetype, warrior, throughout the movie to show how we as humans act when we want to accomplish it. During WWII, Louie Zamperini was set out to go on a mission across the ocean. However, their plane didn’t make it and crashed into the ocean. Only three of them survived, including Louie. They survived 47 days out at sea, stranded on a single lifeboat, living with limited supplies to last them. They were finally spotted by the enemies, Japan, and brought back to prisoner camps. From that point, Louie

The two books “Soldier’s Heart,” and “The Red Badge of Courage,” have their differences and similarities that take the reader on a wild, emotional journey. The major differences amongst the stories highlights the characters personalities, or traits, and assists in making each book stand apart from

The French emperor and arguably one of the best military tacticians Napoleon Bonaparte once said, ‘’Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.’’ In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie goes through trouble and fame as his life progresses from being a small town boy to a famous athlete and competing in the Olympics. Later, Louie joins the military when the Axis powers Germany and Japan declared war on the United States. This results in Louie’s Bomber crashing and him being both stranded in the Pacific Ocean and captured by the Japanese, where he must endure torture as a POW. Miraculously, Louie survives in these camps

Being held captive during a time of War can be traumatic and torturess or silent and subtle. It can take an effect on the person experiencing it in very complex ways. Overcoming traumatic events in POW camps can be extremely difficult. If they return home they can struggle with a wide range of illnesses like PTSD and traumatic war flashbacks. Louie Zamperini was unfortunately that person. He was taken in as a prisoner of war during WWII by the Japanese. He relied on his inner strength and self worth to get him through traumatic beatings, and dehumanization over a period of years. In the novel Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, it shows the detailed struggle of Louie Zamperini’s experience and how he regained strength.

Hillenbrand tells the life of Zamperini’s humble beginning in Southern California from being a dangerous young kid and becoming an Italian-American Olympic runner, with help and encourage of his brother Pete Zamperini. After the Olympics, Zamperini join the Army Air Forces, where he became a pilot. He went on to fly on several combat missions, until 1943, when Zamperini’s B-24 bomber crashed into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Him and two members survived, the pilot Russell Phillips, the tail gunner, Francis McNamara. McNamara died on their 33rd day at the sea, and on the 47th day Japanese sailors picked up Zamperini and Phillips. Over two-and-a-half years Zamperini was a P.O.W. until he was rescue by Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After his rescue he became and alcoholic, until he had the strength to forgive what he had suffer.

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 gave up drinking and smoking.” Louie did exactly this, because he knew the potential he had in running, and wanted to reach that potential. Louie is the main character in the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Almost the whole story revolves around him, and his magnificent life. Louie has grown from being a very troubled young boy, to being a very mature, giving, and humble young man.