Similarities Between 'Unbroken And Beware Of The Dog'

The main character from Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and the main character from “Beware of the Dog” by Roald Dahl face some similar obstacles and both stories have similar themes. The main theme of “Beware of the Dog” is that looks can be deceiving. The main theme of Unbroken is perseverance. However, these two stories can be tied together because Louie (from Unbroken) and Peter (from “Beware of the Dog”) both face a situation where they face an event happening that they believe is one way and turns out to be another. For instance, we can see in Unbroken, Louie believes that a rescue boat has come to save him and Phil and even though they were the Japanese he still has hope that they are there to help and he even thinks, “They are our friends”
(Hillenbrand 173). We soon come to find that Louie and Phil are only headed to become POWs who have no guarantee of life. “On the third day, the deputy commanding officer came to them. He brought beef, chocolate, and coconuts…as well as news. A freighter was coming to transport them to another atoll. The name he gave sent a tremor through Louie: Kwajalein. It was the place known as Execution Island” (173). This serves to be a great example of how Louie was deceived into thinking that he was safe, when really he was on his way to his death. In a like manner, in “Beware of the Dog”, we see that the main character Peter is told that he is in England when really he is in France. He is told by the nurse in the story, “You're a lucky fellow. You landed in a wood near the beach. You're in Brighton” (Dahl Par. 15). Later on we see that he discovers he is in France. “"So this is France," he said. “I am France"” (Par. 37). Based on this text we can see how some elements aren’t always what they seem and he was deceived by the nurse and the looks of his surroundings. To conclude, both stories have examples of how elements are not always what they seem. It is easy to be tricked or deceived into thinking that events are one way when they are not. These events played large roles in the stories and made an impact on what was happening. The characters also handle the situations similarly, by acting calm. So even though they had both been tricked and had discovered the events in happening were otherwise, they both handled the situation considerably well. This shows a great deal about their character as a person, relating back to how they were both so vulnerable to believe what they were told. This just goes to prove, that looks can be deceiving.