Unbroken Book And Movie Essay

On December 7, 1941, the United States found itself part of the world at war for a second time. Young and able Americans joined the ranks in order to help serve and defend the democracy established by the those like them almost two hundred years prior. From the lives put on the line during World War II came some incredible stories. Unbroken, the novel by Laura Hillenbrand and its later adaptation on the big screen by director Angelina Jolie is no exception.
The movie tells the story of Louis Zamperini, an Italian-American from California who enlisted and served as a bombardier in the Pacific during World War II. Growing up he often found himself in trouble. He smoked, drank, and often got into fights. His elder brother, Pete ran track and behaved himself in comparison to Louis. He however saw Louis’ potential and his ability

The book definitely does a better job at showing how truly complicated the relationship between “The Bird” and Zamperini is. “The Bird” isn’t so straightforwardly evil. He is sadistic, twisted, and psychopathic. In the movie he is seen more as just a cruel tormenter but in reality it is far beyond that. He gets a thrill of the suffering of the POW’s especially Zamperini. Also, I believe in comparison to the book, the movie didn’t emphasize how mentally detrimental the torture and torment as well as the time at sea was. The trivia questions and talk of home in attempt to keep their minds sharp were shown while afloat in the Pacific but the movie lacked in its ability to show how big of an affect the vast ocean and malnutrition can have on their mind. This is especially evident in Mac who doesn’t make it and dies while in the ocean. I think the biggest adversary to the men wasn’t the lack of food or the hot sun or even the beatings while in the camps as much as it was the mental torture and