Book Report On Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand

Chapters 1–5 introduce an average boy who would become a remarkable man. Born in 1917, Louie Zamperini was the child of Italian immigrants. Growing up in Torrance amidst poverty and anti-Italian bias, Louie got in the habit of running outside the law. He started smoking when he was 5 years old and drinking when he was 8. He stole anything he wanted—mostly food, money, and whatever else he could find. He ran small scams and vandalized property. Pete, Louie’s older brother, became concerned.

What This Says About the Book: First, Louie forgave the Bird, next, Louie felt compassion for the Bird. But now, Louie has returned to where he suffered through the worst possible emotional and physical pain, and did not feel any of it return to him. It turns out that Louie’s “moment of pain” really did result in “a lifetime of glory.” It was nice to see the main theme introduced in the beginning of the book be concluded in the end.

Louie never was the one to break down and give up. The Bird took a huge toll on the way that Louie felt internally. The fact that Louie was brutally beaten, degraded, and dehumanized, Louie’s spirits remain unbroken. As a child, Louie always seemed to be a rule breaker and having some type of secret defiance. Louie kept a diary which to the guards, was a punishable offense . Louie wrote in the diary daily, while hiding it under the floor in his barrack. Throughout the novel, it is clear that Louie’s dignity is the most important thing enabling the men to survive. Although their bodies were broken, they refuse to allow their dignity to be taken away as well with their survival

Time ticked on, and still Louie remained in the same position, conscious and yet not, the beam over his head, his eyes on the Bird’s face, enduring long past when his strength should have given out. “Something went on inside of me,” he said later.

Laura Hillenbrand is an America author of magazine articles and books. Hillenbrand was born in May 5, 1967, in Fairfax, Virginia. She has written only two books Seabiscuit a New York Times bestseller, and Unbroken, both non-fictions. She is considering one of the best American writers. Her New York Times Article, “A Sudden Illness” won the 2004 National magazine award, and she has also won twice the Eclipse Award, one of the highest journalist honor. Her most recent book Unbroken tells the inspiring story of Louie Zamperini, the son of Italian immigrants.

He became a forgiving person. Louie experienced PTSD after his experiences in the POW camp. He had horrible dreams about the Bird. One day, Louie agreed with wife to go hear a minister named, Billy Graham speak about God. Touched by Billy’s message, he realized he had to fulfill his promise and serve God. Therefore, he wrote a letter to the Bird. “ At that moment, like the others, I also forgave you and now would hope that you would also become a Christian (Pg. 281)”. This quote shows how Louie forgave the Bird even after the Bird tortured him every day while he was in the POW camp. This shows that Louie turned into a forgiving person due to his desire to move on and pardon those who hurt him, Another example of Louie’s forgiveness was when he visited his captors in Japan, The text states, “ In bewilderment, the men who had abused him watched him come to them, his hands extended, a radiant smile smile on his face (Pg. 273)”. This quote shows how Louie wants to make peace with the people who once abused him. This shows how Louie is a forgiving person since he wanted to move on from the past and start a new life. Louie stayed like this throughout the rest of his

In the search for suspects in the cases, the police are mostly involved in the brutalization of the family members in search of evidence to present in court. The use of physical force is dominant with the police and also there is destruction of property of the suspects who are involved in the police brutality. In the search for the suspects too, the police may involve the people through long interrogation processes which entails issuing of threats to arrest the people, eviction of the people and also threatening to lose their children in cases whereby they want evidence on the crimes. In the search of people with warrants of arrest, the police become brutal in a way which may make them promise things like funerals and also putting the people to emergency rooms for medication purposes quickly (Newcomb, 2014). The higher pressures in arresting the people according to Goffman indicates the failure of the police on the war against drugs which has made them to be brutal in such ways. The war against drugs according to the writer has led many people in prison instead of finding solutions to end the trading of drugs or to end poverty in many homesteads. According to Goffman, the agencies which are entrusted with the enforcement of law and order “address the significant social problems of able-bodied

When Louie was young, he was a rebel, stealing liquor, and being the towns arch nemesis. Now Louie is a man, competing in the Olympics, and fighting for his country and even for his own life. Louie hadn’t listened to the police or anyone that tried to help him growing up. He had always broken laws, stolen from people, and drank liquor under bleachers trying to disguise it as milk. Every Time Louie had been caught by the police and had been brought home to his parents, Louie’s dad would hit him with a belt hoping that would teach him not to do it again. Unbroken, the book written by Laura Hillenbrand, focuses on parts of Louie Zamperini’s life who was a risk taker, and optimistic.

World War 2 was already deadly enough but then America took it to another level with the atomic bomb. In total over 200,000 people lost their lives from the atomic bomb. Instead of America using the atomic bomb there were many other alternatives America could have used. After the atomic bomb hit there was a lot of damage done to Japan that left the country in so much damage and bad levels of radiation. Many people describe the country after the atomic bomb hit saying how everything disappeared and there was nothing left. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand she writes about a bombardier Louis Zamperini and his experience in the war. Towards the end of Unbroken Louis describes the damage from the bomb. Louis says “ It was all gone like there was nothing there”. The atomic bomb made many people suffer even years after it hit since the damage was so bad. American should have thought about the how the damage of the

Louie watched the sky and hoped the Americans would come before the Bird killed him” (181). This demonstrates that he’s optimistic because even when he’s getting beat the the Bird, he still had hope that the Americans will come and save them. The Bird’s hatred towards Louie caused him to suffer more than the other POW’s did. “Louie’s arms went numb. He

In Unbroken, by Lauren Hillenbrand the setting plays a significant role. The story starts the childhood of a man named Louie. He grew up with his Italian family in Torrance, California during the 1920s and 30s. He was the middle child and was considered a troublemaker. Because of his behavior, his behavior, his older brother, Pete, made him try out for the track. His performance was amazing and as a result he was allowed to join the team. Everyday he was training with his brother. He won all of yhe local track meets and went on to run in the 1936 olympics in Germany. He ran the 5,000 meter race. Even though he finished in 7th place, he broke the world record for the fastest final lap with 56 seconds. Louie was determined to perform better in the 1940 olympics.

His mile time was breaking highschool records everywhere and he began to be noticed. His one dream was the olympics, Louie makes his way to the olympics he begins stealing and acting out again. He gains a lot of weight having more access to food then he has had in year but he still makes history with a 56 second final lap in a 5000 meter race (4). People began to believe the 4 minute mile was achievable through Louie Zamperini. However, with all of Louie’s success he has gained, due to the brewing WWII in Germany, the olympics were cancelled.

Philosopher, Albert Camus once said, “The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” People who are not allowed to be free but are, rebel. In the book Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, Luke Garner is an illegal 3rd child. He’s illegal because of the Population Law. Matthew and Mark are his two older brothers that are legal. Luke faces obstacles because he has to hide. Throughout the book he rebels to achieve freedom. Likewise, in the article ”Two Sisters, Two Americans” by Brooke Ross, Veronica Saravia is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador. She has a sister, Diana that is legal. She also faces obstacles because she doesn’t want to be discovered. Later

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

One of the most influential catholic theologians, Karl Rahner, once stated: “How often I have found that we grow to maturity not by doing what we like, but by doing what we should[..] not every ‘should’ is a compulsion, and not every ‘like’ is a high morality and true freedom.” Similarly in Marie Lu’s Legend, the main characters, June and Day struggle with their own morality, thus showing the audience the effect of compromise on the individual. Their struggles make them do immoral acts. June and Day do not follow the compulsions of ‘shoulds’ or ‘likes’, they show true freedom through their ways of compromise.