Four Page Essay On Unbroken

Forty-seven Days
Louie Zamperini was a young boy, who encountered a painful, yet fascinating journey in his life surviving things many people could not through his will to live. Not only was he was one of America’s greatest heroes but also, an Olympic runner, WWII bombardier, plane crash survivor, POW, and survivor or post-war turmoil. Laura Hillenbrand was able to tell Louie’s incredible story through her award winning book, Unbroken. She wrote the book Unbroken to tell Louie’s unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body and spirit.
Laura Hillenbrand, married to Borden Flanagan in 2006, but separated in 2014. She was born in Fairfax, Virginia, but grew up in Washington

D.C. She was born on May 15th in 1967. She attended Kenyon College before falling terribly ill with chronic fatigue syndrome, making her rarely able to leave her home due to her condition. She was soon confined to her home and began writing her first book, Seabiscuit, a bestseller, published in 2001. Her exciting book Seabiscuit won the Triple Crown of publishing: runaway sales of a nonfiction sports book, nomination for the National Book Award Critics Circle Award, and a movie version from Universal Studios. Not only was she awarded with the Triple Crown of publishing, but many more, like the Eclipse Awards for magazine writing in 1998, along with the Booksense Nonfiction Book of the year, William Hill Sports Book of the Year, and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist all in the year 2001, a second prize, Barnes and Noble Discover Award, all for Seabiscuit, and a National Magazine Award in 2003, for a New Yorker article.
Louie Zamperini, a troublemaker in Torrance, California had been caught stealing food, getting into fights, and had very little ambition, but always dreamed of hopping on a train and leaving his town for good.

After getting caught in the wrong crowd, his brother Pete, manages to turn his life around by taking his love for running from the law, and turning it into a passion for track and field. Louie breaks his high school records, and goes to the Olympics in 1936, and trains to beat the four-minute mile. His running career was put on hold when the World War broke out. Louie enlisted in the army as an air corps and becomes a bombardier. While over the Pacific Ocean they were shot down. Only three men survived, Louie, Phil, and Mac. Louie and Phil continue to fight for their lives at sea for forty-seven days, only to be captured and tortured by the Japanese. After being transferred from camp to camp each one worst than the last, Louie was the only one to survive when the war ends. Louie is finally able to return home and reunite with family. Louie fights hard, but cannot let go of the past and winds up with a drinking problem to forget what he had been through. Louie is able to find faith and have the will power to quit his drinking problem, and turn to motivational speaking. Many years later, Louie was able to forgive all of the men who did him wrong, and carried the Olympic torch past Naoetsu in 1998, leaving his dark past behind

him.
Laura Hillenbrand wrote the book Unbroken to inform everyone today by showing how daring, defiance, persistence, ingenuity, and ferocious will of Louie, a man who refused to be broken. Laura wanted Louie’s pain and suffering through this war to be meaningful. She believed he was inspiration to all.
Throughout this story Laura allowed us to take a walk into Louie’s life, capturing every moment perfectly. She was able to show us what Louie really experienced by describing his life story in great detail. We were able to see Louie for who he really was. A strong and brave, young man who never gave up hope, even in the worst of times.
Laura Hillenbrand wrote this inspiring book for every audience, young and old.

This story was a great read and tells the amazing journey of Louie Zamperini, showing what these men and women had to go through. “A life time of glory is worth a moment of pain.”
The author was balanced through out this story, telling Louie’s side of his adventure, “When he thought of his history, what resonated with him how was not all that he had suffered but divine love that he believed had intervened to save him.”
Laura wrote this story about Louie almost as a documentary to show the world what he had to encounter. She used Louie as her primary source, through interviews and hours on the phone trying to get different angles on the same stories, but also used friends, and family members, going back to childhood, as secondary sources. Laura Hillenbrand did an outstanding job capturing every moment of Louie’s life in this book.
Laura divided up this book using intriguing chapter titles to tell Louie’s incredible

story.
Richard Norton, from Naval War College wrote a wonderful and true review on Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. In this review Richard Norton says, “Unbroken warrants a positive review and will delight readers young and old.” This statement could not be any more accurate. This story was inspiring! Louie touched many lives and inspired others, as well as had great strength to forgive the ones who had hurt him. Louie will always be remembered, but that brings up question as to why there is not more to certain parts of the story. Richard brings up the question himself of “How many others who deserve the honor of memory have been lost in time?” or “She provides no analysis of the larger issues.” In Unbroken, Laura never goes fully into detail about what exactly happens to Louie. We know what he has done to make him a hometown hero, but we do not to what extent he had to go to, and it leaves readers wondering. Also, when Louie gets home and experiences post-traumatic stress, Laura does not go into detail of how he handled his troubled past. This leaves readers wondering how do current-day veterans handle their own past experiences. In this review Richard Norton wrote, “Hillenbrand admits to liking Louie Zamperini, and it is easy to see why she would.” This explains why the details for the horrible, darker sides have a somewhat rushed feeling while reading this book. Laura Hillenbrand did an outstanding job telling Louie’s story. Although it may seem there could have been more to his story, it is an incredible true story all together, and readers will not be disappointed.
Overall this book was very heart felt, and inspiring. Louie Zamperini lived an incredible life with an amazing story to tell in the end when returning to his hometown. Through Louie readers will feel inspired because no matter what he went through, he fought. He never gave up, he had a very strong will to live, incredible strength, and bravery. The brave men and women, like Louie, who fight in these wars, should be more appreciated by everyone around the world. Louie’s story leads to a better understanding of what these men and women do for us. How they put their lives on the line for us daily with very little in return. These men and women are idols, and Unbroken will be inspirational for years to come.