During World War II, a period of complete violence and outbreak between nations, there are many heroes that have endured through harsh brutalities. In Laura Hillenbrand’s monumental book Unbroken, she writes about the real life story of Louie Zamperini. As a young child, Louie was very mischievous and dangerous.” Hillenbrand states,” He hit one kid so hard that he broke his nose. He upended another boy and stuffed paper towels in his mouth… Louie beat one kid so badly, leaving him unconscious in a ditch, that he was afraid he’s killed him (pg 10).”
Mary Matsuda Gruenewald tells her tale of what life was like for her family when they were sent to internment camps in her memoir “Looking like the Enemy.” The book starts when Gruenewald is sixteen years old and her family just got news that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japan. After the bombing Gruenewald and her family life changed, they were forced to leave their home and go to internment camps meant for Japanese Americans. During the time Gruenewald was in imprisonment she dealt with the struggle for survival both physical and mental. This affected Gruenewald great that she would say to herself “Am I Japanese?
Louie Zamperini. He was a legend if you ask me. Not many people know who it is. Louise and Parini was an Olympic runner who is also fought in World War II. Louie Was captured by Japan to become a prisoner of war where he would be put through the most gruesome, brutal months of his life.
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand follows Louie Zamperini, a US prisoner of war survivor in World War II. Louie Zamperini was the son of Italian immigrants. He grew up in Torrance, California with a habit of testing the limits. Pete, Louie’s older brother, saw that Louie had a talent for running. As a result, he forced Louie to join the track-and-field team at school.
Louie Zamperini was a world known olympian and he was captured by the Japanese and tortured. Louie zamperini was captured and put in an POW camp. He was dehumanized and was treated to make him feel no self worth. But he was resilient and fought and survived 2 years in the camps. Mine was a japanese-american and put in an internment camp and was moved to camps and lived in horse stalls.
Coping With War By: Branson In the books Camp Harmony and Unbroken during World War II, some people lost their freedom. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Americans in Camp Harmony lost their freedom. Because of the possibility of them being spies, the government wanted them to be monitored so America didn 't get spied on. In Unbroken, Louis Zamporelli washed ashore from being lost at sea and landed in Japan.
Laura Hillenbrand’s choice to write Unbroken in third person benefits the book. After tieing with Lash for the Olympic qualifying 5,000m race and making the Olympic team, “... Sylvia returned from work the next day, the house was packed with well-wishers and newsmen. Louie’s 12 year old sister, Virginia, clutched one of Louie’s trophies and told reporters of her plans to be the next great Zamperini runner.”
WWII was a huge event in American history. Now for Louie, the war wasn’t the experience that changed him, or at least changed him the most. For Louie, the life of a POW was the most traumatizing part of the whole experience. Being at the camps was horrific, how the guards were so unhuman with no humanity. Louie was beaten every day, nearly froze to death every winter, and worst of all, he started to the point of almost looking like a skeleton, just to name a few.
During WWII Japanese-Americans and prisoners of war were sent to camps. Two of those people that were sent to camps were Louie Zamperini and Miné Okubo. Louie Zamperini was drafted to go to war when he was young. He was on a mission to find a missing plane when his own plane crashed in the ocean. He was later captured by the Japanese and sent to a POW camp.
In Unbroken Part IV, the Japanese guards, everyday would try and make their POWs feel “invisible” but the POWs resisted, demonstrating resilience multiple times. In this part of the book Unbroken it is about Louie and many other POWs who are held captive in prison camps. In these camps the POWs are abused and humiliated daily by the Japanese guards. But this story is not only about how the Japanese dehumanized the POWs, it is also about how the POWs fought back to try and regain their dignity and themselves.
Demoralization: to cause (someone) to lose confidence or hope; dispirit. Being physically degraded is much different than mental degradation; physical abasement includes loss of muscle, fat, and other bodily necessities. Mental ignominy is getting stripped of your dignity, self-worth, and confidence. The novel Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand follows Louie Zamperini, an olympic runner and world war 2 bombardier, through his journey of agony and triumph. Prisoners of war (POW’s) were often treated similar to slaves, while being isolated from the rest of the world.
Family #19788 The memoir Looking like the Enemy, was written by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald. Set during World War II after the attack upon Pearl Harbor. The Japanese Americans living in Western part of America had a since of betrayal and fear having to evacuate their homes and enter into internment camps.
War Combat, loyalty, enmity, bloodshed, and duty, all words that fit under the category of war. The novel Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is about Louis Zamperini a strong willed man raised in Torrance, California. He started as a young troublemaker until he discovered his passion for running in high school. That very passion led him to compete in the Olympics. Later he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, a brave decision that would change his life.
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.
Overcoming Dehumanization “Louie watched the sky and hoped the Americans would come before the Bird killed him” (181). This is one of the many examples of how the way POWs were treated in these camps influenced many lives negatively. Like many other Prisoners of War, Louie Zamperini survived several difficult conditions. He had to resist several attempts of dehumanization. In Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand uses both internal and external conflict to show that war has profound and varied effects on individuals.
