There will never be a moment in one’s life when misfortune and difficulty are not apparent. In the most grim and desperate situations is when a test of resilience and endurance of the human spirit comes forth. Louis Zamperini, a 26 year-old former olympian, had to face one of these tests during World War II when he was downed, and soon picked up by the Japanese in the Marshall Islands after drifting through sea. Held captive for two years as a prisoner of war, Zamperini was in the midst of the worst the war had to offer.
Growing up as an Italian immigrant in Torrance, California, Zamperini was accustomed to breaking into homes and running from the police that transformed him into a world-class runner. After high school, he qualified for the US in the 5,000-meter race for the 1936 Berlin Olympics (even Hitler commented on his performance) and finished in 8th place. As World War II approached, Zamperini was commissioned by the air force in 1941 as a lieutenant. Stationed in Hawaii, he was assigned as a bombardier in a B-24. However, during a search and rescue mission, his plane experienced mechanical difficulties and crashed into the boundless ocean.
Of the eleven on board, Zamperini, Russel Phillips, and Francis Macnura survived, stranded in the middle of the ocean. Three people are lying on a fragile raft: no food, no water. Saving themself from the looming starvation, the three men ate a few albatrosses perched on the raft as Zamperini created improvised claws to catch a couple of fish. This was all while they fend off their raft from the onslaught of sharks along with occurrences where their raft was nearly capsized by a storm and another where the three were strafed by Japanese. Mac died from malnutrition on the 33rd day. On the 47th day, the breathing skeletal bodies of Phil and Zamperini were picked up by Japanese sailors. In the small yellow raft, Zamperini and his crewmates travelled 2,000 miles in possibly the most extended recorded instance of being stranded at sea and surviving.
In Europe, one in a one hundred fifty captured Americans died, while one in three perished in Japanese hands. Zamperini was someone who was an exception to that statistic. Since he was a former Olympian, his life was too valuable because he could be used by the Japanese as propaganda. Despite this, his fame subjected him to relentless torture by his tempted captors. Hence the starvation, humiliation, medical experiments, and disease carried on throughout his two years as a POW. On top of that, he had to endure multiple beatings by ruthless captors, one of these being the infamous and sadistic Mutsuhiro Watanabe aka 'The Bird', who derived pleasure from Zamperini's assaults.
In the sky, American planes are spotted by the POWs and the Japanese, who were aware of the war's end. However, the Japanese swore that they would kill all the POWs rather than hand them over. Despite the Japaneses' vows, the bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved the prisoners and thus were freed.
In all honesty, reading this book was a shaky start for me. As someone who has read numerous fiction books, the prolonged absence of dialogue was startling. Despite this, the book keeps me engaged with rich sensory details and imagery that puts me in Zamperini’s shoes. I think that Hillenbrand does such a phenomenal job at describing scenes that range from the conditions of disease-ridden POW prisons to the intensity of running in the Olympics. In addition, the themes that the novel presents are inspiring. The fact that this World War II veteran is able to overcome challenges and circumstances that are seemingly impossible has lended me courage to help overcome my own struggles. Overall, Unbroken is a gripping, well-written novel and is a good non-fiction book for those who want to pick up that certain genre.
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