Dynamic Characters In Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken

Laura Hillenbrand’s novel Unbroken, a biography about the thrilling life of Louis Zamperini, and now a major motion picture, continues to be read in high schools all over the country. It contains many dynamic characters, symbols, and themes. Out of all the great choices, this research paper focuses on the character changes of Francis McNamara, the symbolic nature of the sharks, and the theme of survival and resilience. Francis McNamara, the tail gunner of the B-24 nicknamed “Green Hornet”, was one of the three survivors of the plane crash in the Pacific Ocean. Mac after the first night on the water, panicked and ate all of the rations meant to feed the man until possible rescue (Hillenbrand, page number). This mistake caused him to become overcome with a melancholic depression, only speaking

This is only half true, the other half being calm and elegant creatures. They represent how violent the natural world can be, and the pervasive and remorseless reality of a terrifying and agonizingly painful death (Florman int). Like the unsympathetic ocean, the sharks have no benevolence for the men: only hunger. The sharks, and the mortality they represent, are a major contribution to why Mac’s fortitude, his ability so survive, was so undermined. Louie’s imagined treaty with the sharks emphasizes their meaning as a specifically natural violence. He feels it is natural for the sharks to attack him in the water because that is their domain, but unnatural for them to come onto the raft, his territory (Florman int). This view of the sharks also draws a connection between the sharks and the Japanese military, who crossed into American territory to bomb pearl harbor. Louie, therefore, seems to provide a justification for the war: if you cross over borders with violent intentions, then you can expect we will be coming to your territory seeking