“Where there is life, there is hope.” This is one of the many inspiring parts from the novel Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This story is about a young boy named Louie Zamperini and his journey through childhood, the olympics, and war. Louie had a rough childhood; he began drinking at the age of 8 and smoking at the age of 5. He would get into fights and steal things without any regard for anyone else. Eventually, his family had enough of his antics and Louie’s brother Peter encouraged him to try running track and field. He struggled a little bit at first, but then he seemed to get the hang of things and made it to the Berlin Olympics in 1936.

  After the olympics, Louie went on to fight in WWII. While flying a run down fighter plane known as the “Green Hornet”, a malfunction caused the plane to crash and sink into the ocean; the only survivors being Louis and two of his fellow crewmates Phil and Mac. They spent 47 days at sea struggling to survive. Unfortunately, Mac was not very lucky as he died on day 14. After 47 days, Louie and Phil were captured by the Japanese and taken to a POW camp along with many other U.S. soldiers. They went through immense torture and worked day in and day out. The leader Mutsuhiro Watanabe, also known as “The Bird” was the main source of this abuse. He specifically targeted Louie and made sure that he got the worst of the torture.

  They were transferred through multiple camps while under the power of the Japanese; Kwajalein Island, also known as execution Island, Ofuna, and Omori. Each camp being worse than the one before, no one dared to step out of line, or else they would have to face the consequences. They did what they were told and never talked back knowing that any day could be their last, but with the days passing, they grew weaker. Struggling to survive, they held on to any source of hope they had until someone found them. And one day, all of their prayers were answered. A B-24 flew over the camp and they were saved and later were transported back to the U.S.

  The term “Unbroken” can mean many things, but one thing that I think of when I hear this story is that the meaning of Unbroken is you are able to get through the worst situations, even if the odds are completely against you. Louie and Phil never expected to make it out of this experience alive, but they were determined not to go down without a fight. While being stranded on the raft, Louis had told god that if he got out of this situation alive, then he would do anything that he wanted him to do. This was a monumental moment in the story because Louie was on the verge of breaking and was trying to cling to any hope that there was of them coming out alive.  In many cases, when soldiers return home from war, they go crazy from everything that they went through. Luckily, Louie was fortunate enough to return home to his family and friends with no problems.

  One thing that made Louie’s story stand out from the others was how even through all of his childhood and teenage years, he never gave up. When the kids would pick on Louie as a kid, he never backed down. When he began winning all of his races and was named the ‘Torrance Tornado’, he never let it go to his head and he continued to work hard. While in the POW camps, he allowed The Bird to force every soldier punch him in the face to make sure that they don’t continue to beat one of his friends. It is Louie’s strength and courage throughout these tragic experiences that truly make him unbreakable.