The Book 'Unbroken': Louie Zamperini

The novel Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand stands as a biography that captures the real-life experiences of Louie Zamperini, a man who went from living as a troubled boy, to an impeccable runner, and then into a United States soldier. This novel defines the definition of survival. Not only has it sold millions of copies, but is read in many high schools across the world, and became a huge major motion picture. In the book, there is a character who is very close to Louie named Allen Russell Phillips, or better now as Phil. From the beginning of the story and until the end, Phil has changed dramatically. Furthermore, one of the main symbols shown was sharks. Additionally, one of the themes displayed was survival and resilience. In this paper, the

Secondly, Louie is now stranded in the Pacific Ocean and is defiant to the thought of giving up on himself and the others that are stranded. In this example, Phil shows how defiant he is in Louie. Out of all the crewman on the plane, Phil portrayed that Zamperini was the man he wanted beside him on the raft. Unlike Mac, whose actions indicated weakness. Additionally, the quote is showing us that Mac was a pushover compared to Louie’s heroic actions. This quote explains that Louie, having a rebellious attitude that he and Phil survived on a crippled raft for forty six days. Even though his body was failing, his mind was getting sharper and he was remembering parts of his past. The determination he had to acquire through surviving the long stretch

Some events that do not describe a hero in Louie Zamperini in the novel Unbroken is when he was young he stole anything edible, and he also ran away often. Louie was a kid that snuck into games and was letting people get in for free. Louie started to drink at the age eight. Another thing Louie did was rob people he had stashes of food loot and even alcohol; he would spit spit balls around the class and his teacher would make him stand in the corner so he deflated his teacher's car tires. Usually hero’s have good grades always follow rules never do anything bad, but Louie was the complete opposite you would not expect anything good from a kid like him. Zamperini did many bad things, as he got older he started

Being resilient in tough situations can be substantial in some cases. To be resilient means one has great wit, especially in a 'finding a way out ' scenario. It can even be the key to survival, as can be shown in a short excerpt from Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. It gives a great example of resilience based off of a situation that Louie Zamperini finds himself and crew in as their plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean. What characteristic is most important in helping Louie survive? Well, once one reads the excerpt, they can be given a great feeling of being a problem solver, or for short definition, skillful. To be skillful is very similar to being resilient, but it comes more into fact of being related to past experiences and knowing of

Summary: As chapter 1 begins, Louie Zamperini, a 12 year old boy is introduced. He was born in Olean, New York but he and his family moved to Torrance, California when he was just two years old. He began to cause havoc in his neighborhood. His fearless and troublesome personality is displayed as he got in trouble with the law by stealing food and money, creating pranks, and getting in a number of fights.

The determination to live comes from human nature. But the urge of giving up when we come across a difficult problem is also a part of human nature. There a few people in this world that have the characteristics of resilience. As author Kendra Cherry describes them, "People that are able to keep their cool have what psychologists call resilience, or an ability to cope with problems and setbacks" (Source A; Cherry, 1). An example of someone who has the characteristics of resilience is a bombardier name Louis (Louie) Zamperini. After Louie’s plane crashed in the middle of the ocean, he and two other survivors had to overcome a series of conflicts before they could make it to safety. Throughout Laura Hillenbrand's book, "Unbroken", Louie’s most important characteristic of resilience that contributed to his survival was his awareness. With his awareness of his surroundings and situation, Louie was able to overcome the conflicts he faced such as shark attacks, dehydration, and starvation.

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.

“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.

The dictionary defines courage as having strength in the face of pain or grief. Although that does not mean it is everyone’s definition. Courage is something that will always be there, it is up to someone who is motivated enough to dig down and find it in themselves to help them face the situation that they are in. It can be more difficult to find it for some and easier for others, but it will always be available when it is needed. In Tim O’Brien’s book The Things They Carried he brings you into his life leading up to and through fighting in the Vietnam War. In the book he walks you through his journey of physical and personal struggles along with his fellow soldiers’. Throughout the book O’Brien gives you a sense of his own courage and how it evolves over time.

One event in which Louie shows his defiance is in childhood, where he is shown as being rebellious, incorrigible, and troublesome. In the book, it says, “to get even with a railcar conductor who wouldn’t stop for him, Louie greased the rails...when a teacher made him stand in a corner for spitballing, he deflated her car with toothpicks.” (pg. 7) This shows defiance because Louie never followed the rules and was always seeking revenge, proving that he is defiant. Another part in the book where Louie shows this trait is when he finishes running the 5,000 meter race at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. “Studying the building, Louie spotted a small Nazi flag near the doors...it would make a swell souvenir, and it looked easy to reach...taking one last lunge for the flag, Louie snagged the edge and fell to the pavement, tearing the banner down with him, then scrambled to his feet and ran like mad...the Germans gave him the flag and let him go.” (pg. 37) This proves Louie is defiant because he stole the flag with complete disregard for authority, behavior that can be described as defiant. That is how Louie is defiant in Unbroken.

Have you ever thought of how it would be to have a plane crash and be deserted for more than 40 days? Well neither did Louie Zamperini, until it happened. Louis Zamperini never thought that he would be lost at seas but when his B-24 crashed down in the pacific that's just what happened. Though his whole life he has been all sorts of things, rebellious, determined, courageous, and more. Louie Zamperini, from the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand shows the characteristic traits of rebellious and determined through the thing that he does in this book.

When Louie was a prisoner in the camp, he needed to resist the dehumanization and beatings he had been given by the Bird. Louie had brought out this theme in the camps many times. He had stayed strong against the Bird, who would stop at nothing to destroy his dignity. Once, the Bird had given Louie and some others the job of cleaning the benjo, or bathroom. The Bird thought they were going to hate it, but, “To deprive him of the pleasure of seeing them miserable, they made a point of being jolly” (179). If Louie would have shown he was despondent, the Bird would possess all the power. Louie didn’t want the Bird to see him in pain because he wanted to take control and turn the power around. He needed to be resilient and stay mentally strong. Later, for stealing, the Bird had made every man in the camp punch Louie and a few others in the

He married and was trying to move past his experiences as a POW. However, nightmares and flashbacks of The Bird haunted him. They made him focus on revenge and anger. One night while sleeping, he had a vision that he was strangling The Bird, but it turned out to the his pregnant wife. This PTSD caused Louie to become divorced. His wife began going to Billy Graham’s services, and encouraged Louie to attend as well. After Louie decided to attend, he continued to talk with Billy Graham and accept that forgiveness would be the only way for him to escape the terror of The Bird. Finally, Louie was able to look beyond the torture he has endured, and learned to believe in his Christian faith and forgive The Bird. Although, I feel Louie would have been justified in killing The Bird, I do not feel like it would have been a moral act the Louie was capable of. For a man to have endured so much pain to forgive, shows tremendous strength and bravery. I also don’t feel that Louie would have ever found true peace if he would have killed The Bird. The thought that he would have been guilty of committing the same abuse that he witnessed daily would have put him over the edge. “He felt something he had never felt for his captor before. With a shiver of amazement, he realized it was compassion. At that moment, something shifted sweetly inside him. It was forgiveness, beautiful, effortless, and complete. For Louie

One day in 1943, an Army Air Force Bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean, leaving Louis and some of his crew trapped in the Pacific. Louis had to deal with surviving on only a life raft above crazy sharks and little food. Surviving nearly three months in the ocean and near death, Louis was captured by the Japanese, a main enemy of the United States’ during the war. Louie had to deal with the very cruel Japanese generals as a prisoner of war. Louis’ biggest problem was dealing with an Japanese general nicknamed “The Bird”. After nearly two years of dealing with the cruelty of Japan, the war ended and the prisoners of war were free. Even though after Louis got married and had a family, he still had flashbacks and depression from World War II. Eventually, Louie got closer to God and became a

Louie was an Olympic runner one day and the next he was drafted into the war. Louie endured an unimaginable amount of pain while