Unbroken Reflection

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The quote by Helen Keller, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it” (BrainyQuote). Louie Zamperini survived many Japanese POW camps to live and tell about his experience. The novel Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, is the story of Zamperini’s life. Growing up a trouble maker to becoming a successful track athlete to overcoming his suffering during WWII and returning to his family as a different Louie. His experiences helped him learn who he is and his place in this world. The cruel suffering Louie faces leads him to survive and come home alive. Louie withstands multiple beatings, hard labor and poor nutrition to overcome his suffering. In his times at the POW camps, Louie tries to find new ways to get more food since his “portions was the size of an ant” (Hillenbrand 313). Nutrition was poor at the camps, the prisoners used “stolen food especially the scot’s sugar” (Hillenbrand 250) as currency. This proves that food was valued…show more content…
Louie was beaten by his bully Watanabe, finally came the day where he all his suffering would end “The bird was leaving for good. Louie felt almost out of his head with joy” (Hillenbrand 275). Once Watanabe left his camp, Louie recieved much hope and only had to overcome the hard labor and starvation. Louie spent a long time suffering at the camps and finally “After three and a half years in prison camp, I had been liberated by the great American” (Hillenbrand 327). The end of the war signaled the achievement of Louie’s survival and the start to his new life. He’s been suffering for so long his body can’t handle the liberated life he once had “Digestive systems that had spent years scraping by on two or three cups of seaweed per day were overwhelmed” (Hillenbrand 323). Louie’s years of suffering still shows after he comes home from the war. His mental toughness propelled him through his adversity and to be able to

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