Analysis Of The Book 'Unbroken'

Samantha Timmer
Accelerated European History
Unbroken Analysis Paper
July 2016

While reading the interesting novel of Unbroken there were lots to think about. Along with the prompts on which this paper will answer, the novel was a very good portrayal of what World War Two was like. This novel was told from the point of view of someone who lived through it, and it was a very in depth detailed report over Louie’s life, in the nonfiction literary category. This paper will describe and answer in detail all about the novel and how Louie could survive through the War. Some of the main topics of this paper include, Louie’s characteristics, how Louie survived, Louie’s reconciliation, and an important life lesson from throughout the novel. Throughout
the novel, Louie endured so much through strong will he kept on breathing. Eventually he got through the War. Essential qualities of surviving the situations that Louie endured is self-restraint, positivity, hope for the future, and the ability to push yourself to the breaking point in order to live. Louie had all of these qualities and that is the reason he was able to survive the War. The reason he survived the plane crash and the time on the raft is because he was positive, he would not let himself think that he was going to die. Mac, another one of the men on the raft, was not as positive as Louie, Mac did not survive the journey on the raft. It was probably fatal for Mac because of the negativity that he thought. While Louie was on the raft all he could think about was food, home, and being on land. When he was captured the Japanese did not treat him poorly immediately, giving Louie hope for the future. When they sent him and Phil to Kwajalein, they discovered that they were not going to be as treated as well as they were when they landed on an atoll in the Marshall Islands. But still they had hope that they were going to make it through the War alive. POW camps have laws to follow which these laws were set up at the Geneva Convention, both Louie and Phil knew this, what they did not know was that the Japanese did not follow these laws. Being a prisoner Louie showed self-restraint, he would be beaten and he would not hurt his abusers. Louie has always been able to push himself to the breaking point, before the War and the Green Hornets crash, running was his way of pushing himself. Now his abusers and captors are beating Louie’s body to its breaking point, but Louie keeps pushing himself because he wanted to live and he did not want to give his abusers the satisfaction of winning. A good example of Louie not bowing down to his abusers is in Chapter Thirty, Louie was put in charge of a goat by the Bird, Louie’s most abusive captor, when the goat died the Bird was going to punish Louie. The Bird saw on the ground a heavy, wooden beam and the Bird made Louie lift it. If Louie were to drop the beam, the Bird told another guard to hit Louie with his gun. While Louie was holding the beam, he locked eyes with the Bird. Louie did not lose his focus and held the beam for a long time, for thirty-seven minutes, the Bird eventually stopped laughing realizing how far Louie could push his body. Louie did not want to give the Bird much satisfaction. Louie’s strong will power helped him carry the beam for a long time, eventually the Bird had to end this and he punched Louie in the stomach. In the conclusion of this paragraph, the qualities and characteristics that Louie possessed that helped him make it through the War was positivity, the ability to push himself through difficult situations, and hope for the future. Louie was positive that he would live to see land again when he was on the raft. Louie pushed himself because of the torturous Bird. When Louie saw land for the first time since before Green Hornet crashed Louie had hope that the land would help him survive the War.
In the end, I think Louie was able to survive because of his strong will power and his characteristics of positivity, self-restraint, and the ability to push himself; traits of Louie’s characteristics and personality, as explained in the paragraph above.
I think that Louie was lucky but because of his positive attitude and the ability he has to push himself he was much more likely to survive. Overall, he had about twenty percent luck and about eighty percent was his personality making him survive. No matter what camp Louie was at he wanted the same things, food, to see his family, and the War to end. In Chapter twenty-eight, Louie was hurt, his ankle badly tore and he could no longer work. When the POWs in the camp could not work their food rations were to be cut in half. That, Louie could not have, so he begged for work, he ended up cleaning a pig’s cage without any proper tools. This proved that Louie would be willing to dig through pig feces, just to get a little bit of food. Cleaning the pig’s pen with your own hands is not lucky neither is tearing your ankle, he was pushing himself and showing self-restraint to not retaliate, because he wanted his whole ration of food. Tearing his ankle is bad luck, so is getting the job as a pig custodian. Ever since the B-29 American plane sighting in Chapter 25, Louie had hope that the War would be over soon, he was very positive about the sighting. This first American plane sighting gave all of the POWs in the camp hope that the War would be ending very soon, and it gave them a little extra positivity to get them through the last leg of the War. This would give Louie the hope he needed to get through the rest of the War, because he knew that it would be ending soon. Seeing the B-29 and having it fly over his camp, giving him and the other POWs hope, was lucky. The B-29 symbolized for the men in the camp that the War would be over soon and that they could go home. These two specific examples prove the point; Louie was able
to survive the War because of his personality. The first examples shows that Louie would endure anything and pushing himself to the breaking point to get food, and the second example shows that Louie has hope and a positive attitude that the War would be ending soon. Louie may have had some luck because the American plane did fly over their POW camp, but that only strengthened Louie’s characteristic of positivity. Louie was lucky to get through the War alive, considering so many other men in the POW camps did not survive. Although, it was still mostly Louie’s personality that saved him.
The key to Louie’s reconciliation was the talk given by Billy Graham. Louie was having a tough time when he got back home from the War. He married, and he had a daughter. Louie’s life was drowning in alcohol, and nightmares of the Bird were a nightly thing. Louie was going crazy with making plans to kill the Bird. Louie needed help he was not adjusting well to his post-war life. Louie’s wife, Cynthia, found out about these talks and she knew that she had to get Louie to go. Billy Graham was the Vice President for a Christian based group, Youth for Christ International. Billy’s job was to travel the World talking about God and what wonders he can do. Cynthia finally got Louie to go to one with her, and he walked out. She begged for him to go again, and finally he said he would. The second time, just as he was about to walk out Graham told that crowd that nobody was going to leave. So Louie stayed and listen to Graham. This probably saved his life. Louie was inspired and he remembered when he was in the raft, he spoke to God saying, “If you save me, I will serve you forever. (Hillenbrand 382)” He knew that in that moment he must turn his life around and start listening to God. It was the year 1950, and Louie was now a Christian speaker. Louie had gone back to Japan and was at the Sugamo Prison where all of the camp guards from the POW camps during the War were kept. The Bird was not there, he was now where to be found, and he was presumably dead. Louie had found God, and as a Christian he seemed that forgiveness and reconciliation was really important. When Louie found out that the Bird was indeed alive, Louie wanted to give him a message. The message that was given to the Bird told him that although everything that Louie had endured because of the Bird, forgiveness was important, and that Louie forgave him. The Bird, if he even received the letter, never wrote back to Louie. I think because Louie became a Christian that he forgave the Bird. One of the bibles important teachings is to forgive your enemies and to be kind and show compassion to all. I do think that the only thing that allowed Louie to forgive was his connection to God. Louie had truly found God. If I endured what Louie had, I do not know if I could forgive my tormentor like Louie did. The Bird did not only cause Louie mental and physical damage during the War but after it as well. The Bird was Louie’s form of post-traumatic stress disorder because he would appear in dreams. One night Louie was having a dream about strangling the Bird, when in real life he was strangling his pregnant wife. The Bird forced Louie to hurt himself through alcoholism, and his wife through strangling her. If I were in Louie’s place I could see myself forgiving him, although it would not be so soon after the War ended. I could see myself forgiving him after twenty years, when I had to time to adjust and pray about the subject. Louie was a good man he forgave his tormentor only a couple of years after the last of his dreams of the Bird. Louie technically forgave the bird when he went and visited the Sugamo Prison, as told by the letter that Louie wrote to the Bird. I can see myself as being forgiving, sometimes I hold grudges but not for long, I just need some time to think about the subject of the argument or situation.
One life lesson that I have learned from reading the book is always be positive, for Louie this was one of the factors that allowed him to live through the things that he endured. No matter what he went through he was always positive and looking forward to the end of the War and going home. For me, I am usually a positive person, but if something bad happens it is hard to remain positive and I quickly become negative. For example, while playing golf if I am doing badly, then my attitude becomes sour and my game gets worse. Coach Hoefer has told me that I need to work on my attitude and my game will become better. So if I remained positive like Louie than I could improve my golf game along with my attitude. Also I know that if my attitude is negative and someone says something to irritate me, usually my sister, than I will argue with them. Arguments never solve anything and they are usually a waste of time because you are fighting over nothing. Positivity is an important factor for a better life. I know that my situations are nothing like Louie’s but a little positivity goes a long way, and that is what matters.
I think the reason that this book is important to read for the class of Advance European History because it is a real, in-depth story that portrays what World War II was like very well for someone who lived through it. This story is incredibly described in great detail which is important so we, as students, will not miss an important part of Louie’s life. This is also a great story for a Catholic School as it shows Louie’s moment of how he turned his life around and started following God. This book is a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know about World War II from the point of view of a survivor who endured a lot while he was in Japanese POW camps.
This concludes this analysis paper over the novel, Unbroken. This novel was a great and in-depth report of Louis Zamperini’s life especially during the era of World War II. Louie is a great American role-model and hero, because of his life and accomplishments. Hopefully this paper explained all about the novel and how Louie could survive through the War. Some of the main topics of this paper included, Louie’s personality, how he survived, the reconciliation, and an important life lesson from the novel.