Short Essay On Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand

TOPIC- Louie learned resilience, and with that he learned how to feed himself in order to live through the harsh conditions of the prisoner of war camps and the open ocean.

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.

Louie’s athletic career definitely prepared him for what he would encounter in the war. Through his extensive training and unprecedented success, Louis gained a wide variety of traits and abilities that can be predicted to be essential for him as he faces the challenges of war. One obvious and major way that his athletic career prepared him for the war was by increasing his physical ability. In the novel, Louie is a long-distance runner in the 1936 Olympics, in which he placed eighth (Hillenbrand 35). Through his all encompassing physical training, Louie became extremely competent in physical endurance and strength. As it can easily be assumed, having good endurance can prove to be life-saving in war, especially in Louie was ever in a situation

World War II had a lasting impression on not only the countries but on the soldiers and people as well. POWs and internees had to experience things that would make a grown man cringe in fear. In the stories ”Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, and “Manzanar” by Jenne Houston Wakatsuki, tells the tragic story of how these men are stripped away of their human rights. As they try to struggle their way out of insanity, their stories will forever echo in history to show the outcome of war.

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

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.

As a young boy, Louie was a troublesome individual. He turned into a delinquent at a young age. For example, in the book Unbroken it states, “

ouie Zamperini’s life Story There are many books about war and one of them that is outstanding is Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand which has a person named Louie Zamperini . Louie has been treated poorly when him and others prisoners were captured by the Japanese because the Japanese see them as threats to their country because they are in war with America so they don't see them as people but enemies and then they are dehumanized . Louie Zamperini was born January 26th 1917, in Olean new york to Louise Dossi and Anthony Zamperini. Louie was a young boy he was naughty he use to steal smoke and drink but that all changed thanks to his brother helped Louie by him finding something he would enjoy doing instead of going crime and fighting Louie found what he liked to do and what he

When Louie first enlisted in the war, he was terrified of heights, but wanted to fly a plane. He had to overcome his fear to accomplish being able to fly. When Louie and his crew were flying their bomber named Superman, it was hit by enemy fire. Many of the crew members inside were injured, Louie did everything to try help them survive. Shortly after the attack, Louie’s plane crashed into the ocean. Three of the crewmen who were on the plane, including Louie, were the only ones who survived. 46 days passed, the men fought vigorously for their lives, with no food or water. With the willpower of trying to survive, they also had to survive the sharks and the Japanese bombers. When Louie finally reached land, he was nowhere near alive or healthy. After finding land, Louie was held as a POW never knowing if he was going to live to see the next day. “It was a secret interrogation center called Otuna, where “high value” captured men were housed in solitary confinement, starved, tormented, and tortured” (Hillebrand 198). He was dehumanized and constantly made fun of. Louie had to use his survival skills to continue on to be able to survive being a POW. “Confident that he was so clever, resourceful, and bold enough to escape any predicament, Louie was almost incapable of discouragement. When history carried him into war, this resilient optimism would define him” (Hillenbrand 7). Despite the challenges

Despite everything that Louie endured at the camp for prisoners of war (POWs), he was alive, he was always moving forward and the main thing - he stayed strong. Once, the chief of the camp the Bird forced Louie “to lift it (wooden beam) high and hold it directly over his head” (p.301). For Zamperini it was more than hard but he did it. “He felt his consciousness slipping, his mind losing adhesion, until all he knew was a simple thought: “He cannot break me”.

The Brave and Forgiving Louie Zamperini survived on a raft in the middle of the ocean, for 47 days, with a finite supply of water, and no food! Louie was born in 1917, and was a troublemaker from the beginning. Louie’s older brother, Pete, encouraged Louie to run. Eventually Louie was on his way to the Olympics in Japan. However, fate had different plans for Louie, instead of Louie going to the Olympics, he was stranded on a raft for 47 days in the middle of the Ocean, and was sent to brutal POW camps for 2 1/2 years.

When authors write about World War II, most set their stories in Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich, but few would give a moment of thought to the atrocities perpetrated by the Imperial Japanese Army in East Asia and the Pacific region. However, Laura Hillenbrand has brought us this heavily neglected side of the tragedy. By following the vicissitudes of a USAAF lieutenant named Louis Zamperini in her bestseller “Unbroken”, she pays tribute to all ex-POWs and soldiers that lost their lives on the Asian battlefield.

Survival of the Resilient American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was quoted as saying, “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on” (Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotes). In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand a boy named Louie Zamperini goes to the Olympics for the 5k. His life soon changes though when Japan attacks pearl harbor. Louie is drafted into the air corps. His plane goes down in the pacific and he is captured by the Japanese and becomes a POW.