Persuasive Essay On Unbroken

After reading the biography of Louie Zamperini’s life by Laura Hillenbrand, Louie’s leadership led him through many obstacles. Being the leader Louie is he conquered insurmountable odds without breaking, proving to audiences that an ordinary man can transform into the hero of his own life

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.

“Hey guys! This is the last communication you shall receive from me. I now walk out to live amongst the wild. Take care, it was great knowing you” (Qtd. In Krakauer 69). After graduating from Emory University, Christopher McCandless abandoned everything, gave his entire savings account to charity, and then hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wild. In the novel, Into the Wild, Was McCandless justified in shunning society? McCandless was justified in shunning society because he simply wanted to find himself and be independent without any distractions from his friends or family.

As indicated by Laura Hillenbrand in Unbroken, ¨A month earlier, twenty-six-year-old Zamperini had been one of the greatest runners in the world, expected by many to be the first to break the four-minute mile, one of the most celebrated barriers in sport. Now his Olympian’s body had wasted to less than one hundred pounds and his famous legs could no longer lift him. Almost everyone outside of his family had given him up for dead¨ Louis’s life had gone to pieces all in two or three months. He was tormented, stranded, and broken. He was broken until he was saved and it make him come to a realization of his life. No individual ought to be abandoned or regarded as the way he seemed to

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

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

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

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

“ What God ask’s of men, said [Billy] Graham, is faith. His invisibility is the truest test of that faith. To know who see’s him, God makes himself unseen.”(382) Laura Hillenbrand wrote the book Unbroken and took it to a new level of surprises about life during the war by saying in very good details the times of when Louie and others were in the war. Louie changes a lot during the book and then Louie Zamperini tries not to go crazy when he gets back from the war. Phil changes a lot and he is not the same man he once was before he went to war. Louie Zamperini’s families believed in him so much that they thought he was still alive along with his faith that kept him from going crazy and helped him survive.

It is very hard to tell the full story of the courage Louie obtained, and everything he went through. She created this book from the life of Louie, however a big part of the making of the book was the many phone calls she sat through in order to interview him. In an article from New York Times article called Zamperini’s War, written by David Margolick, it states, “ Laura Hillenbrand reached Louis Zamperini just in the nick of time — he was in his mid-80s when she found him, and 93 now— and it’s an excellent thing, for his is surely one of the most extraordinary war stories of all.” In the back of the book within the acknowledgements she talks a lot about how the interviews went and how Louie really was. She said, “... I felt certain that I would never again find a subject that fascinated me as did the Depression-era racehorse and the team of men who campaigned him. When I had my first conversation with the infectiously effervescent and apparently immortal Louie Zamperini, I changed my mind.” She then continues to say, “ That conversation began my seven-year journey through Louie’s unlikely life. I found his story in the memories of Olympians, former POWs and airmen, Japanese veterans, and the family and friends who one formed the home front; in diaries, letters, essays, and telegrams, and many written by men and women who died long ago;...” The most touching part

Beginning as a small-town runner, he rose to superstardom as a collegiate and Olympic athlete, becoming one of the fastest and youngest competitors of his time, but, soon, he was a malnourished prisoner-of-war, fighting for his life. He still persevered, despite all of the hardships he faced, and he came out of the second world war and his PTSD-related alcoholism as a motivational speaker, showing “things do always get better,” as the maxim says. Louis Zamperini is regarded as in inspiration for his resurgence as a being, growing from the state of a “dead body breathing” (p. 135) to a Christian speaker, who forgave not only his captors, but the source of all his fears: Mutshuiro “The Bird”

“Don’t Give Up, Don’t Give In”. These are the famous words and title of Louis Zamperinis’ autobiography. Louis Zamperini lived a powerful and meaningful life that has inspired thousands of people. Zamperini was a troubled youth, a track star from the town of Torrance California with impressive records, an Olympic athlete, World War Two Bombardier, Alcoholic, Airplane crash survivor, Japanese Prisoner of War, Inspirational speaker and a founder of a camp for troubled youths. Louis has done it all and was truly a man ‘Unbroken’ by the world.

It was my last memory from my class at Meadowbrook, the school’s right of passage at the end of the 8th grade year: ziplining in Costa Rica. I felt my stomach tighten as I took a step up to the first platform, took one last deep breath, and jumped. The violent, Costa Rican air whipped around me, spinning my body in a circle like a helicopter blade. I tirelessly squeezed the handlebar with the rough, sandpaper gloves like my life depended on it. Ironically, at the time, I thought it did. I was mortified. After helplessly spinning around for about a minute, I crashed into the end of the line and nervously unhooked my harness. One down, seven to go. The next line began similarly to the first one. I leaped off the platform hesitantly, but the wind had died down and I was able to relax. I gazed across the seemingly endless lush, green landscapes of the Costa Rican mountain ranges in awe. Still choke holding the handlebar, I was not comfortable in the slightest. I left the third platform just a second quicker feeling slightly more secure in the harness. This time, I released the handlebar, leaving my doubts and worries behind. I was about as content as I could possibly be given the circumstances, dangling thousands of feet up in the air in the mountains, supported by a jaded wooden rope an inch in diameter.

“Where there is still life, there is still hope” is just one of many of Louis Zamperini's mantras that shows he understands no matter how hard life may be at any given moment, as long as one still has life there is hope that life can get better, because everything is temporary. Louis suffered many different kinds of pain, physical pain inflicted by himself and his training, physical pain inflicted by the leaders of the POW camps, mental pain of trying to survive on the Ocean for 47 days with no food and little water and also trying to fight the mental battle of wanting to quit, give up and die, but Louis did not quit, he persevered and survived, and his temporary negative circumstances were turned around and he became not only a famous Olympic Athlete, but a honorary War Hero. Life will always throw its lemons, one must learn to squeeze the juice and make

Have you ever had one of those days where you never wanted it to end? All the joy comes spilling out of you and you don’t want it to stop? Well, that was the day I didn’t know I had. As I roused out of my sleep, I heard somebody rushing up the stairs and opening my door. “ Arlene, wake up we have to leave soon!” My mom bellowed as I started to lift the blue blanket off myself. We were going to California today and I couldn’t wait! I went and packed my toothbrush, glasses, contacts, and whatever else I needed. As I rushed downstairs, I smelled the eggs my mom was making us as I gave my luggage to my dad. I couldn’t wait for this adventure to begin, but I didn’t know how much fun I would really have!