The book I read is Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Holy cow! What a book. It takes you through the story of the great olympic runner Louis Zamperini. We go with him to the Olympics, to Hawaii, to Japan, and then back to California, where he grew up as a kid. Louie joined the army and became an airforce bomber. As his crew went out to search for a missing plane one day, his plane crashed. And that is where the biggest part of his journey, and the meat of this book, begins with Louis and his flight mate, Phil, struggling to survive the harsh environments of being POW’s for the Japanese government. There are many of people introduced throughout the book as Louis encounters them. This story is hard to give a meaningful intent to because the author’s intent was to share Louis Zamperini’s survival story. Which, in my opinion, is pretty meaningful. There were a lot of horrors discussed in the book, that is unimaginable to think that so many people from all over the world, endured such terrible conditions. The author, Laura Hillenbrand, wanted to show some of the horrors that occurred during …show more content…
Or at least shows a small sliver of history. Not everyone that was a prisoner of the Japanese government had the same experience that Zamperini had. Frankly, I believe he had been shown a lot of mercy in those camps and by a higher power. Many though, did have similar experiences. They were beaten daily, if not multiple times a day. Knowing that prisoners of war survived such horrific conditions, like not getting the right amount of food but being forced to do some hard work, fathoms me! At one point in the book, Louis, who had been basically starved and beaten(daily), raced a man in a mile race. He says he let the man win. But then another man came to race him and Louis beat the second man! Then took a beating from one of the Japanese commanders. I am just in awe to think that Louis had the strength to survive all of that within a couple days of each
“A lot of times I find that people who are blessed with the most talent don't ever develop that attitude, and the ones who aren't blessed in that way are the most competitive and have the biggest heart.” In Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction book Unbroken, the competitive spirit of Louis Zamperini is demonstrated when, against all odds Louis goes, from being a thief as a kid to competing in the Olympics in Berlin. Tragically as a young adult during World War II his bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean Louis’s future started to head for the worst as he was stranded for 47 days. Needless to say it was Louis's own competitive spirit that allowed him to live to tell this unforgettable story.
Additionally, Hillenbrand uses Mac as a foil to Louie, showing how a military soldier could be under such tremendous pressure, however, Louie endured abundantly more and stayed positive. Hillenbrand wrote, “Since the men had floated across the international date line, the forty-sixth day was July 14” (174). Moreover, Hillenbrand acknowledged that Louie had the resilient attitude to survive for forty six days. Like sticky glue clinging to an object, Louie stayed the course and fought back, even in the cruelest
As a war sparked with Japan, Louie joined the air force. Peering down on the ocean while they hurtled down to its open arms, and they dove racing further into the deep waters. He springs up toward the shimmering daylight, breaking through the waters surface, and he continues looking for his survivors. With two other survivors they fight vicious
The author researched the hidden details of the sacrifice and pain that the American prisoners had been through. The bravery that the American people utilized to face the cruel British enemy was demonstrated in the book. Edwin G.burrows relied on credible and descriptive resources to deliver a better message to the readers. The book is inspirable and it used different methods to trigger the attention of the reader. Altogether, I enjoyed reading this book and I am looking to read more publications from the same
When asking anyone what the Holocaust is, there is a very standard answer as to what it was. It is infamously known as the mass killings and imprisonment of Jewish people throughout most of Western Europe. What people fail to acknowledge is that there is more to the Holocaust than this “standard answer.” There have been multiple accounts of what it was like to be in the Holocaust such as the famous books The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and Night by Elie Wiesel. The memoir A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy by Thomas Buergenthal serves the same purpose as any text about this atrocity has served: to inform the public about what truly went on in the concentration camps and beyond.
(page 155). This describes how fighters in the war would risk their own health to protect other fighters and universally to protect their country. In addition on page 204, the text describes how Louis and his “crew” made a decisions to risk their lives when it was not their duty to do it. While in Japan, they risked their own lives to free people in the Prisoners of War camps because they all had this universal trust. The POW camps were run by “The Bird” which in LOuis and his crew 's eyes, he needed to be
Louie Zamperini went through more pain and suffering than most people will ever 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).
World War II was a very traumatizing time for the soldiers that fought in it. Unfortunately, the War was also a very traumatic experience for the Japanese Americans that were forced into internee camps. Key examples of those who have struggled through awful conditions are Miné Okubo and Louie Zamperini. Miné is a Japanese American artist who was forced to live in squalor conditions surrounded by armed guards. Louie is an American soldier and a previous Olympic athlete that was beaten daily and starved almost to death in prisoner of war camps.
Morgan Cook Unbroken Book Review 1/16/18 Mrs. Campbell Honors Literature PD 1 “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand was published in 2010. From the first chapter i was hooked. Hillenbrand’s imagery and style caught my eye and pulled me into Louie’s story with no hesitation. I absolutely loved Hillenbrand’s structure in this book and it was much better than others i have read.
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).
In Hillenbrand’s gruesome novel, Louis Zamperini faces the toughest of challenges, some that are purely indescribable and difficult to comprehend for the average human, but his ability to persevere and accomplish the unheard of demonstrates his character’s ability to tackle adversity head on. After a victorious landing on a Japanese island, the men are transferred to POW camps, where they assume they will face their deaths. Both men are taken special interest in, but Zamperini especially because of his Olympic past. Zamperini first meets the “Bird” at a new POW camp and realizes that a real life nightmare has entered his life. Zamperini, anxious and angry, is unsure of how to react, “Louie was on his own.
Japanese soldiers also highly valued dignity, and believed that if a person had lost it they were subhuman, thus deserving of cruelty. Because they viewed the captured prisoners of war as dishonorable, they would inflict unfathomable brutality upon them. Louie was subject to callous degradation and violence daily, yet he would attempt to maintain his dignity by committing small acts of rebellion. He and other POW’s would steal newspapers and food from the guards, while planning ways to sabotage them and escape from the camp. Although not all a success, these acts of resistance helped the men retain some dignity and control in their lives.
These things made Louie lose his dignity during the war because he was treated very poorly and almost like he was treated like an animal. Louie's family also suffered because they thought Louie may be dead but they kept faith even though having no contact or anything from Louie in months. Having no contact with a loved one during war is one factor of the cost of war. POWS wouldn't receive
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. After Louie was captured by the Japanese, he was taken to a POW camp ,Ofuna, they began to deprive Louie of human essentials such as food and water. To make matters worse, they started to conduct experiments on him and his comrade Phil, “The doctor pushed more solution into his vein, and the spinning worsened.
Louie Zamperini and Commander John Fitzgerald show strength and resolution in the face of adversity. For example, when Louie’s plane crashed and the men were on the raft, Laura Hillenbrand wrote, “Louie was determined to keep himself and the others lucid”(114). During their journey on the rafts, Louie tried to keep Phil, Mac and himself hopeful in a seemingly hopeless situation. He tried to distract them from hunger and troubling thoughts by singing songs and talking about comforting memories of the past. Commander John Fitzgerald demonstrated his fortitude in Ofuna.