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Resilience In Unbroken

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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. In this book most Japanese prison guards put in all their effort to try and make the POWs' life as terrible as possible. As Hillenbrand states, “everyday, the men were slapped, kicked, beaten, and humiliated”(167). This quote tells us …show more content…

Many POWs would collect intestinal gasses and save them up for roll call, where they were ordered to bow toward the Emperor. They would then, “pitch forward and fart in unison”(155). Showing how even though they were suffering all this abuse they would hit back, trying to regain themselves. And even though this act of farting at the emperor might seem small it made a big difference for the POWs. While trying to regain their dignity and themselves, this act showed the POWs that they could defy the people who treated them like they were lesser. While that act showed how the POWs as a whole defied the Japanese, Louie also individually defied the Japanese. One time when Louie individually defied the Japanese was when he was forced to carry a very heavy wooden beam around 6 feet long, he had to hold this beam over his head and could not put it down or shake because if he did he would be beaten. But Louie was not going to give the guard the satisfaction of knowing that he tired out Louie. Louie said to himself, “He cannot break me”(213). Louie ended up holding the beam for 37 minutes. Much longer than a man in this condition should have. To Louie this act of defiance was bigger than the world; he would not let the Japanese strip him of who he was. He was not going to let them make him feel lesser. He and the other POWs stood up, they would regain their dignity taking the smiles off

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