The definition of perseverance, as defined by Dictionary.com, is “steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.” Louie Zamperini in Unbroken had to persevere through things no one could dream of. His running career didn’t start out very well. His brother forced him to and Louie would quit the second he felt tired. Then he moved to an Indian reservation with a friend for a summer and he came back wanting to run every second he gotall the time. He started setting records all the time and he won every race he ran. He eventually went to the Olympics. Louie’s fastest mile was 4:07.9 minutes. In the book Unbroken, the author shows the reader that the main character,
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At times, death seemed better than the life the POWs were living. “Lying on the ground before them was a thick, heavy wooden beam, some six feet long. Pick it up, the Bird said. With some effort, Louie hoisted it up, and the Bird ordered him to lift it high and hold it directly above his head. Louie heaved the beam up… all he knew was a single thought: He cannot break me… Louie had held the beam aloft for thirty seven minutes.” Louie was sick and sick POWs who can notcan’t do work get half rations so they can’t get better. Louie asked if he could get work so he could get full rations and the Bird gave him a nearly dead goat and said if the goat dies, Louie dies. The goat died and Louie went to the camp doctor. The Bird found him and asked if he had permission to go to the doctor. Louie said no so the Bird made him pick up a wood beam and said if the beam falls he gets clubbed. A guard came over and guarded Louie. He held it up so long that the Bird got mad and started beating him. This quote shows the amount of perseverance Louie needed to survive the POW camps. The Bird was so horrible to Louie that the perseverance needed to survive through what he went through would have to be unlimited. Louie had held the beam so long that his blood couldn’t reach his head. …show more content…
The plane Louie and Phil were flying was not good and Phil, who was the pilot of the plane did not know the plane’s quirks so it was hard flying it. Also, the tail flew well below the front of the plane so it was slow. Eventually one of the motors blew and since the plane was travelling so fast, it still looked like it was on so someone had to feather the engine which stops the rotors from spinning. Someone accidentally feathered the wrong engine and the plane could not fly anymore. The crash killed everyone except Phil, Louie, and Mac (the tail gunner). “Louie took a bite of the biscuit and held it in his mouth, caressing it, feeling the flavor. He ate slowly, savoring each crumb. It was his first food in eight days… Now Phil weighed about 80 pounds. According to different accounts, five-foot, ten-inch Louie weighed 67 pounds, 79.5 pounds, or 87 pounds. Whatever the exact number, each man had lost about half his body weight or more.” Phil and Louie were on the raft for forty seven days, about twice as long as the previous record. Phil had weighed about 150 pounds when they crashed and Louie had weighed about 155 to 160 pounds when they crashed. This shows how much perseverance surviving that long with little food and even less water they needed. Also with his running career, Louie needed a lot of perseverance to finish a mile in little over four
At times, death seemed better than the life the POWs were living. “Lying on the ground before them was a thick, heavy wooden beam, some six feet long. Pick it up, the Bird said. With some effort, Louie hoisted it up, and the Bird ordered him to lift it high and hold it directly above his head. Louie heaved the beam up… all he knew was a single thought: He cannot break me… Louie had held the beam aloft for thirty seven minutes.” Louie was sick and sick POWs who can notcan’t do work get half rations so they can’t get better. Louie asked if he could get work so he could get full rations and the Bird gave him a nearly dead goat and said if the goat dies, Louie dies. The goat died and Louie went to the camp doctor. The Bird found him and asked if he had permission to go to the doctor. Louie said no so the Bird made him pick up a wood beam and said if the beam falls he gets clubbed. A guard came over and guarded Louie. He held it up so long that the Bird got mad and started beating him. This quote shows the amount of perseverance Louie needed to survive the POW camps. The Bird was so horrible to Louie that the perseverance needed to survive through what he went through would have to be unlimited. Louie had held the beam so long that his blood couldn’t reach his head. …show more content…
The plane Louie and Phil were flying was not good and Phil, who was the pilot of the plane did not know the plane’s quirks so it was hard flying it. Also, the tail flew well below the front of the plane so it was slow. Eventually one of the motors blew and since the plane was travelling so fast, it still looked like it was on so someone had to feather the engine which stops the rotors from spinning. Someone accidentally feathered the wrong engine and the plane could not fly anymore. The crash killed everyone except Phil, Louie, and Mac (the tail gunner). “Louie took a bite of the biscuit and held it in his mouth, caressing it, feeling the flavor. He ate slowly, savoring each crumb. It was his first food in eight days… Now Phil weighed about 80 pounds. According to different accounts, five-foot, ten-inch Louie weighed 67 pounds, 79.5 pounds, or 87 pounds. Whatever the exact number, each man had lost about half his body weight or more.” Phil and Louie were on the raft for forty seven days, about twice as long as the previous record. Phil had weighed about 150 pounds when they crashed and Louie had weighed about 155 to 160 pounds when they crashed. This shows how much perseverance surviving that long with little food and even less water they needed. Also with his running career, Louie needed a lot of perseverance to finish a mile in little over four