Unbroken Essay On Identity

Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner and WWII hero, was quoted as saying, “However dark the night, however dim our hopes, the light will always follow the darkness,” (Louie Zamperini). In the novel Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, is the story of Zamperini’s life from his undisciplined childhood to his passionate running to fighting for his life in WWII and coming home a new man. Louie finds his identity as a young adult which allows him to seek resilience with any obstacle he faces.
Louie created many of his own problems as a young kid, once he found his love for running, Louie found his identity. Ever since Louie was a young boy he would, drink, smoke, steal, and fight, he was a “one-boy insurgency,” (Hillenbrand 6). Growing up Louie got involved in bad things, he did not have any self-respect or respect for others. “You could beat him to death,” said Sylvia, “and he wouldn’t say ‘ouch’ or cry.” He just put his hands in front of his face and took it,”(Hillenbrand 9). After the problems Louie has caused for himself and the heartache for his family, he decides to get away. His experience was shameful, resulting in a return home and surrender to his brother Pete, agreeing to start a regimen of running. Throughout the training, Louie became a new person. “He didn’t run from something or to something, not for anyone or
in spite of anyone: he ran because it was what his body wished to do. The restiveness, the self-consciousness, and the need to oppose disappeared. All he felt was peace,” (Hillenbrand 17).
Louie began to give up his old habits and found himself with a strong passion for running and soon realized the abilities he has. He was able to conquer a lot of pain, passion, and happiness with running. Running helped him fight hard during any obstacles he may face. Louie faced a good amount of fallacious decisions throughout his childhood, with his brothers help he began to find himself through running.
Everyone in life has had a past full of mistakes and regret, those are the things that make the person who they are. With the experiences Louie faced as a young boy, he was able to channel all of his past in his running. Running was his escape and his way to find himself, and soon he did. He quite doing the negative things he had once done and began becoming a better person. Running helped Louie realize all the things he was capable of, it helped Louie realize who he is as a person. Although not everyone experiences the things Louie did as a young person, many are struggling to find their own identity. In order to do so they must forget about their past and find a way to move on and face the obstacles of everyday life. Through finding his identity with running, Louie was able to gain resilience even in the most tremendous situations.
When Louie went into WWII he experienced a good amount of horrendous things and he had a lot of resilience through all the sufferings he faced. During the war, Louie and his crew are put on the Green Hornet and set out. While in the air the Green Hornet bomber failed fast and the plane ended up crashing in the water. “He burst into dazzling daylight. He gasped in a breath and immediately vomited up the salt water and fuel he had swallowed. He had survived,” (Hillenbrand 127). Louie, Phil, and Mac are all stranded and strive to survive. They eventually see an island and begin going towards it, then they are kidnapped by the Jappanese. They are now prisoners of war to the Japanese. “He wasn’t permitted to speak, whistle, sing, tap, read, or look out his window,” (Hillenbrand 200). In the POW camps, Louie faced a lot of pain. He was tortured daily and beaten. “Louie had only the faint hope of the wars end and rescue, to keep him going,” (Hillenbrand 231).. He faced an abundance of heinous experiences, ones that many can not face. Louie had a profusion of resilience everyday he was in that camp until he was finally able to come home.
War is the real definition of hell, it is the biggest obstacle anyone can face. There is an abundance of pain and torture, Louie faced this everyday 24/7 during WWII. He crashed and had to survive with barely anything, eventually getting kidnapped. He was tortured everyday at the POW camps, an amount of torture inevitable to forget. Although a vast majority of people will never have to face what he did, there will be suffering and struggles faced in life. To be able to face these hardships, one must create their own resilience against them. No matter the amount of distress he faced or how scared he was, he was always able to have resilience through it all.
Through running Louie was able to find his identity and create the resilience that lead him home after WWII.
Without finding the passion for running, Louie would never have discovered his true abilities and his true self, and never would have been able to overcome the torture in the POW camps. Louie’s physical training with running lead him to have strong resilience against the Japanese. Being able to do this allowed Louie to come home to his friends and family and embrace his faith, dedicating the rest of his life to helping troubled youth. In order to get through the hardships of life, a person must find themselves to overcome any obstacle they
face.