Charlotte Bohra
English II honors
Brunner
2 January 2017 In Unbroken, the author Laura Hillenbrand, explores the themes of identity and redemption through the life story of Louis Zamperini. Known as “Louie,” he was famous Olympic runner, war hero, and prisoner of war (POW) during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Unbroken is about the indomitable human spirit which Louie embodies. Throughout the various episodes of his life, Louie struggles with his identity and ultimately through these struggles he is able to find redemption. Louie’s life can be broken into three main categories: his life prewar, during the war, and post war. Before the war, Louie was an Olympic runner who used childhood defiance to fuel him. During the war, Louie was …show more content…
Louie’s childhood was filled with fights and pranks and by the time he was a teen, he was a thief and criminal. With the help of his brother, Pete, Louie was able to take control of his life. The once delinquent boy was now channeling his resilience into running. By finding something that he was passionate about, Louie was able to take the first steps to finding who he actually was. Louie’s use of his already present traits shows that he was never ‘bad’, he just never knew how to use his qualities for good. Because of his running, Louie also gains many more admirable traits, such as lightheartedness and optimism. As Louie wins more and more races, he begins to erase his once negative reputation on the town. Whenever he is running, Louie uses that fact that “a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory” (?) which hints at the fact that Louie loves running because it gave him a sense of self-worth and dignity that he never had as a
English II honors
Brunner
2 January 2017 In Unbroken, the author Laura Hillenbrand, explores the themes of identity and redemption through the life story of Louis Zamperini. Known as “Louie,” he was famous Olympic runner, war hero, and prisoner of war (POW) during the 1940’s and 1950’s. Unbroken is about the indomitable human spirit which Louie embodies. Throughout the various episodes of his life, Louie struggles with his identity and ultimately through these struggles he is able to find redemption. Louie’s life can be broken into three main categories: his life prewar, during the war, and post war. Before the war, Louie was an Olympic runner who used childhood defiance to fuel him. During the war, Louie was …show more content…
Louie’s childhood was filled with fights and pranks and by the time he was a teen, he was a thief and criminal. With the help of his brother, Pete, Louie was able to take control of his life. The once delinquent boy was now channeling his resilience into running. By finding something that he was passionate about, Louie was able to take the first steps to finding who he actually was. Louie’s use of his already present traits shows that he was never ‘bad’, he just never knew how to use his qualities for good. Because of his running, Louie also gains many more admirable traits, such as lightheartedness and optimism. As Louie wins more and more races, he begins to erase his once negative reputation on the town. Whenever he is running, Louie uses that fact that “a moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory” (?) which hints at the fact that Louie loves running because it gave him a sense of self-worth and dignity that he never had as a