The novel Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand is a story of resilience and fight. Louie Zamperini went from being a problem child, to olympian, to a prisoner of war. His life before the war was not perfect. He was strong-willed and fought for everything. This attitude showed during the years of war when he became drafted into the Army Air Forces for the United States. After crash landing into the water and being lost at sea for 47 days, his life became a struggle for survival as he got sent to prisoner of war camps headed by some of the cruelest Japanese officers. The story tells the life of Louie starting with him as a kid to his post war life. Many questions are asked throughout the novel about determination and an endless fight for resilience.
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Nicknames were given to all the guards at these camps from the prisoners. ‘The Bird’ was Watanabe’s nickname. He always seemed to be watching and listening for one wrong move by a prisoner so he could hurt and beat them. The Bird especially had his eyes on Louie once he arrived at the camp. Every moment he could get would be to beat Louie. He would go out of his way to make sure Louie would get club to his head or a face full of fist. Louie says he was his worst nightmare. In fact, after the war ended, he suffered from severe PTSD having a reoccuring nightmare of the Bird, “Drifting off beside Cynthia each night, Louie still saw the Bird lurking in his dreams,” (Hillenbrand 357). This shows the strong impact Watanabe made of Louie. For him to have the Bird lurking in his sleep comes to show how much the Bird has affected his life even after the war ended. A great example of the torture Louie went through because of the Bird was when he was at one of the prisoner of war camps. The Bird made him pick up a six foot, heavy, wooden beam and hold it above his head. “He felt his consciousness slipping, his mind losing adhesion, until all he knew was a single thought: He can not break me.” (Hillenbrand 302). This one line shows how close Louie was from falling apart physically and emotionally, but kept pushing knowing that if he fell apart, the
Nicknames were given to all the guards at these camps from the prisoners. ‘The Bird’ was Watanabe’s nickname. He always seemed to be watching and listening for one wrong move by a prisoner so he could hurt and beat them. The Bird especially had his eyes on Louie once he arrived at the camp. Every moment he could get would be to beat Louie. He would go out of his way to make sure Louie would get club to his head or a face full of fist. Louie says he was his worst nightmare. In fact, after the war ended, he suffered from severe PTSD having a reoccuring nightmare of the Bird, “Drifting off beside Cynthia each night, Louie still saw the Bird lurking in his dreams,” (Hillenbrand 357). This shows the strong impact Watanabe made of Louie. For him to have the Bird lurking in his sleep comes to show how much the Bird has affected his life even after the war ended. A great example of the torture Louie went through because of the Bird was when he was at one of the prisoner of war camps. The Bird made him pick up a six foot, heavy, wooden beam and hold it above his head. “He felt his consciousness slipping, his mind losing adhesion, until all he knew was a single thought: He can not break me.” (Hillenbrand 302). This one line shows how close Louie was from falling apart physically and emotionally, but kept pushing knowing that if he fell apart, the