Analysis Of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken

As Helen Keller once quoted, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken tells the life story of Louis “Louie” Zamperini. Through his troubles as a child, emerged a strong-willed Olympic runner, who later became a military aviator. He was lost at sea and then captured by the Japanese as a prisoner of war. He endured years of abuse and suffering but still managed to stay true to who he was. By showing how Louis Zamperini suffers as a prisoner of war and his struggles after returning home, readers are able to see how faith can completely transform someone. Through countless trials of abuse and humiliation, Louie finds himself understanding the cruel extent of human suffering and how difficult it can be to escape from that suffering. “From the moment that Watanabe locked eyes with Louie Zamperini, an officer, a famous Olympian, and a man for whom defiance was second nature, no man obsessed him more” (Hillenbrand 244). This odd infatuation with Louie would soon cause hell on Earth for Louie, leaving him open to furious beatings and constant fear. Watanabe, or the Bird, would push Louie to extreme limits, depriving him physically and slowly shattering his mentality. Even after being rescued and arriving back home, the suffering never left. “All he had left was his alcohol and his resentment, the emotion that, Jean Amery would write, “nails every one of us onto the cross of his ruined past”” (Hillenbrand 374).