Unbroken By Laura Hillenbrand: Character Analysis

Louie is a courageous man who survived the beatings of the war. He was a great runner who changed his life by enlisting in the war. He was stranded with his two bombardier mates on a raft until they were found by the Japanese and dehumanized. After the war has ended he lived a life of alcoholism until he found forgiveness. In the book Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand uses the life experiences of Louie Zamperini to show the traits of being courageous and determined.
Louie’s determination keeps him going. For instance Louie and his crew has caught an albatross. They were unable to eat it, but Louie is determined to find food for his crew and use the albatross meat as bait. “Louie tied a small hook to a fishing line, baited it with albatross meat,
In example producers offered Louie a well place and in exchange Louie would talk badly about his country or he would resume his punishment back at camp. “‘I think you go to punishment camp,’ one said. They waited for louise to change his mind. He didn’t.”(191) Louie knows his punishment will get worse if he goes back. Louie rejects the offers from the japanese know what’s going to happen to him and that makes him courageous. Moreover Watanabe ordered louie to lift a wooden beam over his head. If he dropped it he would be rammed with a gun. The Bird climbed on the a roof and watch louie as he was holding the wooden beam. Minutes passed. “Time ticked on, and still louie remained, the beam over his head, his eyes on the Bird’s face, enduring long past when he should have collapsed. The Bird stopped laughing.”(213) This makes him courageous because he is standing up to the bird. Defeating the Bird’s expectations is what makes him courageous. Another example of Louie being courageous is when he is ill and his rations cut in half. He wanted work to get his rations back. He begs the Bird for work. The Bird tells him to clean the pig’s quarters.“Emaciated and seriously ill, Louie was condemned to crawl on the ground, picking up feces and cramming handfuls of the pig feed into his mouth to save himself from starving to death.”(206) Picking up feces and eating pig feed while he is sick is what makes louie courageous. Louie’s