Unbroken Reflection

The Story of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of Louis “Louie” Zamperini and the many challenges he faced throughout his life and his will to survive. Unbroken was an incredible and inspirational read. The main theme of Unbroken is when faced with challenges the human need to survive and the resilience that is needed to survive is powerful. There are many examples of the theme in Louie’s story which Hillenbrand broke down into five different periods of Louie’s life.

Louie used agency to gain control over external conflicts to continue on in his troubling life. Louie showed his agency through a variety of ways, one of which is in the statement, “Told to draw the radar system, Louie drew an imaginary system so elaborate, it was later written, it resembled “a ruptured octopus.” The integrators nodded” (141). This shows that the Japanese were easily tricked by Louie. Another way Louie showed his agency can be seen in the statement, “Rations were slashed. Ravenous, Louie made reckless efforts to find food” (165). Louie stole food in order to survive, and that shows how he uses his agency to take control of a situation. Also, one of the many times Louie used his agency can be seen here in the statement, “Trying to avoid getting his head cracked open, he blurted out an idea” (179). Due to Louie’s quick mind, he took control of the situation over his deranged captor and helped others too. Agency is important for people to have, and having it work would be ideal. It was important for Louie and it helped him face the odds of his

Laura Hillenbrand’s biography titled Unbroken recounts the life of Louie Zamperini and major events that occurred throughout it. Hillenbrand’s purpose was to emphasize the inspirational story of heroic Zamperini as he qualified and participated in the Olympics, as well as describe the endless struggle of pain in the plane crash and in the Japanese POW camps. She also portrays the importance of dignity and resilience and how without it, the chances of surviving the cruel events Louie experienced during World War II would have been minimal.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is a historical biography about the life of Louie Zamperini. Louie began as a delinquent and soon became a track star. Heading into the battlefield, Louie Zamperini became a bombardier. On a search-and-rescue mission, Louie’s B-24 crash landed into the ocean. He became a castaway with two other crew members. Louie was captured by the Japanese and sent to a POW camp. After two years, Louie was reunited with his family. During his childhood, Louie was troublesome turning into a resilient individual during the war, then developing into a forgiving person after the war.

The book Unbroken details the struggles and hardships Louie Zamperini found as a P.O.W. in Japan during World War Two. Laura Hillenbrand wrote ths nonfiction novel about Zamperini's life as a troublemaking youth, a soldier, and his post bellum life as a family man and community leader.         Louie Zamperini was born in Olean, New York to parents native to Italy. His family moved to Torrance, California, where he became a troublemaking youth who was always fighting and getting into trouble. Zamperini was known as a public nuisance to the town, until his brother, Pete, put him on the right track.

Thankfully, Louie’s determination to survive helped keep him and one of his crew members alive to see their family again. After capture, forced into working and starved nearly to death at camps they found themselves in an even more difficult situation. Triumphant in his efforts to survive, Louie withstood more than his physical and mental strength should have allowed. Like Rosa Parks, a determined Louie fought for what he believed, through the pain he kept a bar raised over his head when “The Bird” wanted to punish him: “Five more minutes passed, then ten. Louie’s arms began to waver and go numb. His body shook. The beam tipped. ...Louie had held the beam aloft for thirty-seven minutes “. (p302)Louie also showed this determination when he tried to keep his crew's mental state in check, he told them of his mother's food: “So began a thrice-daily ritual on the raft, with pumpkin pie and spaghetti being the favorite subjects. “(p153). Courage allowed him and his crew to survive longer; staying alive provided more challenges. Louie once hung the side of a raft, dodging bullets and kicking away sharks even when weak and starved. “As quickly as he could, Louie pulled himself along the cord until he reached the raft. He grabbed its wall and lifted himself clear of the shark “.(p162) This shows Louie, weak physically, was able to withstand what seemed almost

As the Canadian social democratic politician and Baptist minister, Tommy Douglas once said, “Man can now fly in the air like a bird, swim under the ocean like a fish, he can burrow into the ground like a mole. Now if only he could walk the earth like a man, this would be paradise.” In the book Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, defying the many odds against him, Louis Zamperini showed us that with being faithful, you can conquer your problems. Some of the many struggles Zamperini had to go through, included pushing to become a better person, surviving a plane crash resulting in 42 days stranded out at sea, becoming a POW for two years, and coming home to find that not only his past haunts him, but his present. As a teenager, Zamperini

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 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.

According to the great retired olympian track athlete Gail Devers, “Sometimes we fall, sometimes we stumble, but we can’t stay down. We can’t allow life to beat us down. Everything happens for a reason, and it builds character in us, and it tells us what we are about and how strong we really are when we didn’t think we could be that strong.” In Unbroken, a biography written by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis Zamperini illustrates Devers’ words with his resilience, springing back after his World War II bomber crashed and enemy forces captured him. In the end Louis’ ability to make due with every hellish situation life threw at him that influenced Hillenbrand’s aspired survival story.

The American Olympic Champion and inductee of the National Track and Field Hall of Fame Gail Devers once said, “Sometimes we fall, sometimes we stumble, but we can't stay down. Everything happens for a reason, and it builds character in us, and it tells us what we are about and how strong we really are when we didn’t think we could be that strong”. In Laura Hillenbrand’s book Unbroken, the determined Louis Zamperini exemplified Devers’ words when, against all odds, he survived his bomber crashing into the Pacific where he was marooned for 47 days during World War ll. It goes without saying, it was Louie’s own will to survive that Hillenbrand refined to tell his distingué story.

The World War II has long passed, but it remains an endless source of inspiration for many works of art. In the category of books under the theme of World War II, “Unbroken” stands out as one of the most astonishing stories that have ever been told. This is the true story about Louie Zamperini’s life, from a troublesome kid to an Olympian, an American soldier to a POW survivor, and later, he became an inspirational Christian speaker.

Louie faced many instances that survival did not seem like a reachable outcome, but ultimately found a way fulfill it. While struggling with life at Japanese prisoner camps, Louie thought more than once that he would die, becoming weaker and weaker each day from lack of nutrition and personal hygiene care seeing that, “he examined his feeble body and scrawled sad words in his diary: “Look like skeleton. feel weak,”” (Hillenbrand 311). Louie fell deathly ill more than once not only because of camp conditions, but also because of the treatment he was dealt by camp officials. The treatment did not stop for years, ranging from beatings, starvation, and hard labor. When the end of torture finally came, “Louie stood on wavering legs, emaciated, sick, and dripping wet. In his tired mind, two words were repeating themselves, over and over. I’m free! I’m free! I’m free!” (Hillenbrand 313) -he had survived. Amidst the horrible life he had been living throughout camp life, Louie believed that he would be back home- surviving and eventually showing his strength and resiliency to his

In the book “Unbroken” written by Laura Hillenbrand is the full story of Louie Zamperini’s life. Published on November 16, 2010 by A Random House Trade publisher in New York that is a non-fiction. Hillenbrand, who could not travel to meet Louie because she has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, interviewed Louie over the phone for seven years. The book is five out of five stars for me because I truly am in love with the story of Louie and how devoted this book is to his whole life. This book shows you can start with little and make yourself rich from that.

This semester I learned a lot about writing in English 151. It has been a roller coaster ride with these essays for me this semester. I learned step by step how to write a good essay and how to have your readers be engaged in what you’re trying to tell them. Each essay I did has taught me something valuable I can take to the next level of English. I feel as if as the semester went by I did not take my writing that seriously and that reflected in my grades I received in each essay. It made me a better student and writer and it will reflect next semester. In this essay, I will reflect on what I learned throughout this semester that you should apply in your writing when you begin English 151.