Unbroken by Laura
Hillenbrand: 5 Reasons Why Louis
Zamperini is a Great Hero
In the
remarkably true story of Unbroken by
Laura Hillenbrand we are told the life story of an amazing heroic figure. Louis Zamperini went from a juvenile
delinquent, to an Olympic runner, and eventually became part of the Air
Force. He crashed in Japanese territory
and suffered through unimaginable hardships.
Pushing through the most dismal of circumstances, Louis Zamperini’s life
is extremely fascinating and shows the reader the true definition of a
hero.
1: A Poor
Upbringing:
One
reason that Louie’s character is so heroic is that his life did not begin so
heroically. He was the son of two
Italian immigrants and grew up in a very needy household. The narrator describes the house as, “a
one-room shack with no running water, an outhouse behind, and a roof that
leaked so badly that they had to keep buckets on the beds”(5). From this we can tell that Louie’s
extraordinary life was not handed to him.
He truly had to strive to make it as an Olympic runner and managed to do
so despite difficult circumstances.
2: Turning Life
Around:
Another
exemplification that Louis is a true hero is that he changed the course of his
life. Up until Louie was a young teen he
got into lots and lots of trouble. He stole, beat people up, and had failing
grades. With much help from his brother,
but also with a lot of perseverance with himself, Louie changed his ways and
became a much better person. A quote
that explains Zamperini before he changed his ways is, “He stole a neighbor’s
coffee percolator tube, set up a sniper’s nest in a tree, crammed pepper- tree
berries into his mouth, spat them through the tube, and sent the neighborhood
girls running” (7). As a young boy,
Louie made questionable choices, but because he later became a more respectable
person proves him to be an even better hero.
3: Amazing
Ability:
Louie
also had a marvelous talent for running.
He did practice tons and tons, but even just naturally he was pretty
much unstoppable. For example, when we
hear that Zamperini is going to the Berlin Olympics we are told, “Louie
Zamperini was on his way to Germany to compete in the Olympics in an event that
he had only contested four times. He was
the youngest distance runner to ever make the team”(28). In this sentence we discover that Louie is
going to compete at something that he has only done four times in his whole
entire life. That is a nearly impossible
accomplishment that proves Zamperini just had raw, natural talent. A character trait of most heroes is that they
have a specific and unbeatable ability, of which Louie definitely
possesses.
4: Going Through
Dire Circumstances:
When
Louie is captured by the Japanese he goes through a gloomy chain of
events. Even though he had to go through
so many terrible things Zamperini still got through it after all of his family
members had given up hope of seeing him again.
An example of Louie’s hardships is, “Every few days, he had strange
visits from a grinning sailor who would lean into the room and say, ‘Thump on
the head for a biscuit?’ rap his knuckles on Louie’s head, hand him a biscuit,
and amble away”(196.) This quote
illustrates a weird and uncomfortable situation that the soldier went through
while he was captured. Prevailing
through hard times is another heroic characteristic that Louie definitely
has.
5: Surviving
Deadly Occurrences:
The
final characteristic of a hero is that they live through something that the
average person wouldn’t be able to.
Zamperini lives through multiple things throughout his life that could
have very easily turned deadly. “The
first weeks Louie spent in Naoetsu were almost lethally cold…The drinking
water, which the POWs had to haul in on sleds, was yellow and reeked”(284). This piece of evidence proves that Louie
survived feats that were basially impossible.
So many people died during this time and the fact that Louie lives makes
him hands down, a hero.
Wherever
you look inside Unbroken there is evidence that Louis Zamperini is an
outstanding human being. On every page
there are countless examples and countless reasons that illustrate how
triumphant and heroic Louis is. Because
Louis persevered to do things the average person couldn’t do is the whole
reason the book was even published. If
Louis Zamperini wasn’t a great hero we would’ve never heard his story. And his story is definitely one that should
be heard.
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