How To Struggle In Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken

Over the summer I read about a person who was a really good track star and served in World War II. Written by Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken is a non-fiction World War II story about a young man named Louis Zamperini. The story takes place in the pacific islands and Japan during World War II Louis grew up as a restless and naughty boy, but then became a good and famous track star before getting drafted into the second world war. Louis faces the challenge of surviving on his own and enduring cruelty against Japanese leaders as a prisoner of war.

Louies family was thrilled to see him. To Louies family it seemed as if he carried very little emotion from being in the prison camps. Hillenbrand wrote, “They spoke easily, as they always had. No one asked about prison camp. Louie volunteered a little about it, and to everyone’s relief, it seemed to carry little emotion for him”(342). Soon Louie became so traumatized by the events of War World II, he became an alcoholic. Once Louie’s friends and family realized how bad his drinking habit was they begged him to stop, but their words were not convincing enough. Then one day Louie turned to God and stopped drinking. Hillenbrand wrote “ When they entered the apartment, Louie went straight to his cache of liquor. It was the time of night when they usually took hold of him, but for the first time in years, Louie had no desire to drink”(383). Because of Grahams’ sermon and Louies promise to God that he made while he was stuck in the ocean, Louie gave up

“The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery. Over all, this story allows us to observe changes within the mentalities of army officers.

The film Unbroken honors Louie Zamperini’s ability to persevere the utmost cruel situations. Unbroken was a fairly accurate representation of Louie Zamperini’s life and his survival during World War II, with only minor alterations such as timing. Overall, the director, Angelina Jolie, was not able to capture every detail accurately, yet the details altered only reinforced Louie Zamperini’s extraordinary story of resilience and perseverance.

“My Son the Marine” by Frank Schaeffer and John Schaeffer gives us a look into the life of a mother and father; and their feelings toward their son enlisting into the Marine corp. John had aspirations of joining the military to serve his country. He had spoken to recruiters from the Army, Air force, and the Navy but had yet spoken to the Marine Corp. John was taken by the appearance of the two Marines that visited his home. After he spoke with the Marines he decided that if he was going to join the military he would definitely join the Marine Corps.

“If you can take it, you can make it. Keep on fighting!” This quote from Louis Zamperini states that you must fight until you reach success, and that you never should give up in what you believe in. From Louis Zamperini 's establishment of unassailable records to experiencing the harsh and horrible conditions of being stranded in the Pacific ocean for days, and becoming a prisoner in a Japanese territory is truly a remarkable story of his.

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. War and its affinities have various emotional effects on different individuals, whether facing adversity within the war or when experiencing the psychological aftermath.

In the novel, the author changes the tone throughout the book to add emotion to the story. In the beginning, she uses a depressing tone while also including statistics and the death rates throughout World War II. Hillenbrand says that “...fewer than 30 percent of men whose planes went missing between July 1944 and February 1945 were rescued. Even when the plane’s location was known, only 46 percent of men were saved,” (Hillenbrand 91). She says this to emphasize the major death toll and how very few people were saved. As the book progresses, the author uses inspirational tone as Louie redeems himself through God,as well as highlighting Louie’s “promise thrown at heaven, a promise he had

Although he faced many hardships throughout the course of his life, Louie managed to stay strong and continue on to spread his heroic life story of survival, resilience, and

Imagine being drafted to move thousands of miles away from the life you love to fight a war you hated. This is the unfortunate reality for Tim O’Brien In The Things They Carried. O’Brien explains his experiences of war in Vietnam, what it took to get him there, and his relationships with the other men in his platoon. He portrays guilt and pride through storytelling and intertwines the two by showing how the men often feel guilty for the actions they pursue or decisions they make based on their pride.

“Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can hold a man 's soul in his body long past the point when the body should have surrendered it” (Hillenbrand 189). In the novel Unbroken, written by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis “Louie” Zamperini goes through several life-threatening experiences. After being a troublemaker as a child, and an Olympic athlete, Louie straps up his boots and becomes a bombardier for the Army Air Corps. After a traumatizing crash and a forty-six day survival at sea, Louie is taken captive by Japanese officials. Shortly after being captured, Zamperini is taken to a POW camp where he is abused physically and mentally. Throughout the novel the readers learn that the hardships of war effect Louie, causing the loss of his dignity.

Louie went through many hardships during, and after the prison camp. Through the whole time, though, Louie was resilient and strong. He was making a positive situation out of a negative one. Louie’s experiences show how humanity can learn from their difficult experiences and use that knowledge to help others

It is widely stated that veterans are heroes for what they have done. War is nearly never necessary, and killing for whatever cause should not be considered positive. While it is true that veterans have defended our country, most wars in which our country partook were for our country’s gain, and not a defense of our country, but instead an expansion of its resources and land. Our country and its soldiers have taken unnecessary and harsh actions during wars. Enduring the suffering brought about by war takes courage and perseverance, but does it show heroism? In the novel Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis Zamperini survives for over two years, stranded at sea and then moving between various POW camps. He shows the strength to not give away American secrets. However, I would not say that these actions made him a hero. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut, has a more accurate depiction of war. In Slaughterhouse-Five, war is shown to damage soldiers’ mental states. While Unbroken shows that soldiers are damaged, it depicts them as heroes. War

Imagine nearly achieving your greatest dream that you have devoted your entire life to, only for any chances of achieving it shattered in the worst possible way. The book “Unbroken”, by Laura Hillenbrand, is about an athlete named Louie Zamperini who was an Olympic runner during WWII, and he was one of the fastest milers alive at the time. He already got the fastest time for a single lap in a mile, clocked at 56 seconds, and he was expected to be the first ever man to run a four minute mile. But before he gets the chance, he is drafted into the war in the Air force. While flying with a search party to find a missing ship, one of the engines breaks down, which the ship needs to fly. The ship goes down, bringing Zamperini and the crew with it.

endure in their entire life. In the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis Zamperini was an Olympic runner. He was drafted during World War II . During the war, his plane crashed in the middle of the ocean and he was stranded with little resources to survive. This book follows his incredible story battling starvation and abuse in Prisoner of War camps (POW). The suffering he went through ultimately led him to his newfound faith. During Louie 's time on the life raft and in the POW camps he suffered an unbelievable amount of pain and desperation, but out of that suffering came faith.