Analysis Of Louie Zamperini And Okubo

World War Two (WWII) affected many people including Louie Zamperini and Mine’ Okubo. The vast majority of camps such as Prisoners of War (POW) camps or interne camps made their prisoners or guests feel invisible but, they do try to resist the feeling of invisibility. Louie Zamperini was an American POW and Olympic athlete than went to war and got captured after this plane crashed. The POW camps he went to tried to make him feel invisible. Mine’ Okubo was an American citizen before the war and then the U.S. thought that they were a threat. Therefore Mine’ and her family were put into and isolation camp or an internee camp for no reason they didn’t do anything wrong. Both of these people did resist the invisible feeling. For example, Louie and
Louie is in the Ofuna POW camp which is a “high-value” prison camp and he was feeling invisible because nobody knew he was alive. For instance, “‘They can kill you here,’ Louie was told. ‘No one knows you’re alive.’”(Hillenbrand 147) Invisibility is shown here because nobody knows or thinks Louie is alive so he is invisible to the rest of the world. Later, Louie and other POWs in Ofuna were feeling invisibility when they are forced not to speak or make eye-contact without permission. “Louie was forbidden to speak to anyone but the guards, to put his hands in his pockets, or to make eye contact with other captives. His gaze was to be directed down at all times.” (Hillenbrand 147) Not being able to speak or make eye contact is giving them the feeling of invisibility because they can’t even look at each other. After meeting the Bird, who is the leader and in charge of the Omori POW camp, Louie was beaten constantly without mercy. An example of this, “The Bird beat him daily. Louie bore it with clenched fists, eyes blazing, butthe assaults were wearing him down. The corporal began lording over his dreams, his features alight in vicious rapture. Louie spent hours in prayer, begging God to save him, and lost himself in fantasies of running in the Olympics.” (Hillenbrand 186) This constant beating is haunting Louie and his dreams this makes him feel invisible because the Bird is
Mine’ Okubo is at an internee camp and they are very strict there, and she does somethings that she isn’t supposed to do like document her experiences. An example of this is, “Internees were not allowed to have cameras, but Mine wanted to document what was happening inside the camps.” (The Life of Mine’ Okubo) She is writing down and documenting what is happening inside the camp even though it is not allowed. Next, Mine’ entered an art contest and this lets the outside world know what is happening in the camp. For instance, “She took a chance by entering a Berkeley art contest through the mail, and she won.” (The Life of Mine’ Okubo) Mine’ documented what was happening inside the camp and submitted it to an art contest. This allowed people not in the camps to really see what was happening. Later, Mine’ knew that her family wasn’t being treated right and she wanted other people to know which is why she entered the contest. “She put her artistic talent to use making sketches of daily life inside the fences.” (The Life of Mine’ Okubo) As a result, across the country, the editors of New York’s Fortune magazine saw some of Miné’s artwork. They decided to hire her as an illustrator for a special April 1944 issue of their magazine featuring information on Japanese culture. Even though the internee camps tried to make Mine’ feel invisible she