A Life Saved by Rebellion, Dignity and Faith.

Survival, Resilience and Redemption; these are three themes Laura Hillenbrand defines as major themes in her book Unbroken. While I agree with Hillenbrand that these are very strong themes I feel that rebellion, dignity and faith are far entirely better fitting. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is a non-fiction tale of Louis Zamperini, a man who began life as a rambunctious child and teenager and grew to face great odds during World War II, yet came out alive and with a new outlook on life. Hillenbrand unravels Louie’s life as she illustrates his journey following his World War II bomber crashing into the ocean on a routine flight, and the rescue of his deathly frail body 47 days later is better referred to as his capture. He was now at the hands of enemy Japanese soldiers, and would face years of agonizing mental and physical torture in their imprisonment camps. Suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following his return home, as many World War II soldiers did, Louie sunk to very low place in life. In that time he realizes these themes in himself and finally finds his peace. As a first generation American who was born in New York and raised in California, Louis Zamperini’s acts of rebellion were not only out of desperate desire for attention but for sustaining the lives of his family and himself. Louie’s family struggled with money as he was growing up, so he had taken it upon himself to master the act of stealing food and personal belongings. When he was caught Louie either battled those who confronted him, or he ran from them; this is where Louie developed his abilities as a runner. “In a childhood of artful dodging, Louie made more than just mischief. He shaped who he would be in manhood. Confident that he was clever, resourceful, and bold enough to escape any predicament, he was almost incapable of discouragement. When history carried him into war, his resilient optimism would define him” (Hillenbrand 7). By the age of 19 Louis Zamperini had found a better way to expend is energy; he became a record-breaking distance runner and competed in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. There he made headlines, and not only due to his speed. Finishing in eighth place Louie finished his final lap in only 56 seconds. What stole the headlines however, and gave the world a glimpse into his rebellious side, was his stealing of a Nazi flag.
Louie was taken to an imprisonment camp and held captive after being found drifting lifeless of a raft in the Pacific Ocean near the Marshall Islands following the downing if his aircraft. This chain of islands was under Japanese control. There he and his pilot were entered into one of the POW imprisonment camps where they and the other soldiers were tortured relentlessly. Louie and some of the other soldiers rebelled against camp rules in numerous ways, which helped keep their spirits up. Hillenbrand states that according to Louie, “A fragrant favorite involved saving up intestinal gas, explosively voluminous thanks to chronic dysentery, prior to [roll call]. When the men were ordered to bow toward the emperor the captives would pitch forward in concert, and let thunderclaps fly for Hirohito” (204). What started as farting for laughs and whispers for messages, turned into obvious acts of defiance. Captives would write notes to each other on strips of toilet paper and leave to be found by another prisoner later. Others would speak directly to the guards so they were perceived to be asking a question, and instead were speaking to one another in English about strategies such as stealing food and discussing war propaganda. The acts of defiance and rebellion were how POWs and Louis Zamperini in particular, kept current on the happenings in the war despite the obvious deceptions being fed to them by Japanese guards and propaganda. While enduring never-ending physical torture was debilitating, the psychological beatings took far greater a toll on Louis Zamperini and the other captives at the Japanese POW camps. When stripped of your dignity you begin to lose who you are, and become the enemy of your own survival. Dignity is defined as “a sense of pride in one’s self; self-respect” according to the Oxford Dictionary. While in the imprisonment camps, the goal of the Japanese guards was to deprive them of humanity. In Japanese culture if dignity is lost it would surely be easier to take your own life rather than to live in shame and humiliation from your family and community. The guards aimed to rid these men of any self-respect and pride they had in order to maintain the status of power. Louis says it best himself according the an article from Associated Press “pain never bothered me…Destroying my dignity stuck with me” (USA Today, 1). He and the other captives were ordered to look at the ground at all times; they were unable to speak to one another; they were beaten and starved to the limits of their lives, and then made to dance at gunpoint. They were denied medical care and even became subjects of experimental injections.
During the month and a half Louis Zamperini spent stranded in Pacific Ocean without a fraction of the adequate amount of food or water to survive Louie’s faith abled him to survive. He was “huddled aboard a tiny, poorly provisioned raft, subsisting on little more than rain water and the blood of hapless birds [he] caught and killed bare-handed. All the while sharks circled, often rubbing their backs against the bottom of the raft” (Oney, 1). He was scared and desperate, and turned to prayer. Louie made a promise to God, that if he was saved that he would serve Him forever. Later, heard a chorus in the sky and saw human-like figures looking down upon him and singing. This vision gave Louie faith that he would live. This vision of faith returned while in his cell at one of POW camps, after hours of prayer for help and survival. Though sheltered from the news of the war while in these camps by communicating with new captives, they were told of how Japan (despite the propaganda they were fed) was losing the war. With faith in victory over the Japanese in the war, and faith that his family was home safe awaiting his arrival, and faith in a higher power, Louie pressed on and made it through.
When Louie finally returned to civilian life and home to his family, he was plagued with depression and anger many World War II soldiers suffered at the time. This condition is known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD according to Dr. Gerald Levine of the Veteran’s hospital in East Orange, New Jersey is characterized by symptoms of “problems falling asleep, problems staying asleep, intrusive memories of their war experiences, nightmares, these are all re-experiencing phenomena. They would have intrusive thoughts, nightmares (Elson 1)“ Louie resorted to alcoholism as a means to way to silence this monster. He destroyed his love life and family with this sickness. After great and desperate effort from his wife, Louis attended a sermon from Evangelist preacher Billy Graham who was touring the United States. Louie sat through most of the sermon, but as Graham began using metaphors relating to drowning and the sea Louie headed for the exit. Many veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome following the war, and Louie was no exception to that. He had vivid and unpleasant flash backs. What stopped him in his tracks before making it out the door were the words which followed that metaphor: “God works miracles one after another… God says if you suffer, I’ll give you the grace to go forward” (Hillenbrand 375). Louis Zamperini’s mind flashed back to of plane crash. The wires he had felt trap him, were instantly gone. He recalled the Japanese bomber overhead, shooting at him and yet came out unharmed. Louie’s faith had been restored and he opened his eyes to how lucky and grateful he truly was. Returning home, Louie poured his liquor bottles down the drain and scoured the apartment to rid it of any cigarettes, his dirty magazines, and any other trace of his rock bottom years. The next day, he felt cleansed. His faith had gotten him through another life obstacle, and he came out shining. Louis Zamperini is a World War II Veteran unlike any other and lived a life most could never imagine. He was a rebel child of immigrant parents; an Olympic runner; a bombardier in the United States Army; and a Japanese POW during World War II. Louie survived 47 days on a raft in the Pacific Ocean without food or fresh water, and years of relentless torture in imprisonment camps. Laura Hillenbrand’s non-fiction tale of these accounts, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, illustrates how rebellion, dignity and faith allowed Louis Zamperini to survive in a time where the majority would have given up. Louie and the other captives in the Japanese camps used rebellion as a way to preserve their dignity and maintain or fuel their faith that the United States and its allies would win the war and they would be rescued. Eventually Louie even found faith in the more common sense of the term by finding religion, and in turn finding a path out of the darkness of the torturing memories of his past and finding forgiveness and happiness.