Unbroken Book Review Essay

The book I read for my nonfiction novel for this semester is Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption written by Laura Hillenbrand. When going through the New York Times Bestsellers to find book of my choice, Unbroken was one of the few that had caught my attention since I had been learning about WWII in history class around the same period of time and after reading the summary, I just knew I had to read it. The book is about Louis Zamperini’s life from his birth and upbringing to his remarkable career as an Olympic track star, to his time spent as a bombardier in WWII and as a Pacific POW (Prisoners of War), and through his long recovery back home in Southern California. The novel Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption was written to inform readers about the preservation of

dignity, faith and the redemption that comes with it, and the depths of human cruelty.
On many occasions, the author explains how the key to survival through such difficult times is through the preservation of human dignity. She informed with Louis’s story that the men that had maintained their humanity and dignity, despite the barbaric treatments they had been receiving, were the ones that had a much stronger chance of survival. Long after the body was physically capable of staying alive, Louis, along with other men, were able to survive through little rebellious acts, which kept their spirits unbroken and their individuality intact. He had obtained a journal and pencil from another captive, and admitted that “..with daily room inspections, discovery was likely, and would probably bring a clubbing. But this small declaration of self mattered a great deal to Louis. He knew that he might as well die here. He wanted to leave a testament to what he had endured, and who he had been” (Hillenbrand 204). Mac, the third crash survivor on the life raft, did not survive at sea, despite eating all of the survival chocolate. He remained sullen and quiet, and at times, gave up hope. This could be a reason as to why Hillenbrand wrote the book, to show that a fighting spirit that remains unbroken can survive anything.
Faith and the redemption following it, is illustrated in Louis’s experiences in many ways.

When he was a troubled teen, Louis’s life took a significant and positive turn when his brother Pete believed that he could accomplish something in life. Louis had to accept this belief in himself as well, otherwise he wouldn’t have depended on Pete to help guide him. This is was what caused Louis to excel in running. His reputation shifted dramatically, and he constantly focused on how he could improve. After the war, Louis’s life was covered in darkness and self-destruction. Louis’s presence at Billy Graham’s speaking engagements, made him accept his belief in God. “He was not the worthless, broken, forsaken man that the Bird had striven to make him. In a single, silent moment, his rage, his fear, his humiliation and helplessness, had fallen away. That morning, he believed, he was a new creation” (Hillenbrand 376). Another important reason as to the making of the Unbroken, learn that through faith, anybody is able to bring themselves back up to their feet no matter how gruesome the situation is; as long as you believe, that’s all that

matters.
The war during the book, reveals the depths of human cruelty. Hillenbrand compares Watanabe’s cruelty to the other Japanese guards in order to show the different ways war brings out the darkest aspects of humanity. She states that many Japanese prison guards were unable to cope with the horrific cruelty of dehumanizing the POWs. As a way of coping, these guards refused to see the POWs as human so that they could carry out the cruelties that their superiors forced them to commit. If they saw them as beasts rather than men, then it would easier for them to torture them. This cause the war to turn good men into monsters. However, Hillenbrand believes that the war did not make Watanabe evil. She disputes that he always had sadistic impulses, but that the war gave him the power to act on his violent fantasies on the helpless POWs. This event could’ve cause Hillenbrand to write the novel which showed how war gave evil men the freedom to express the full extent of their wickedness.
The main purpose of this novel is to inform the world about the excruciating journey of an average young man during WWII, what he had to go through, what he did to survive through it all, and to learn how to put it at all in the past. It is written so the readers can understand perplexity of the life of Louis Zamperini and the cruelty inhumane treatments there were actually fulfilled during WWII. Laura Hillenbrand taught the world about preservation of dignity, faith and the redemption that follows it, and the depths of human cruelty in the novel, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.