Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive

“It was the German airship Graf Zeppelin. Nearly 800 feet long and 110 feet high, it was the largest flying machine ever crafted. It was the wonder of the world.”

The opening lines of the text set up the narrative style that appears throughout the book. A moment in Louie’s life, as he sits and watches the Graf Zeppelin move overhead, is contextualized into the greater scheme of history, discussing the airship’s journey across the globe.

“When history carried him into war, this resilient optimism would define him.”

This line from early in the text establishes the key theme of Strength and Resilience, while characterizing Louie as someone with both of these qualities, which he will need to survive his ordeals throughout the text. This connects his experiences of misbehaving as a child without direction and training tirelessly for the Olympics to the horrors he will experience in the war and the strength he needs to survive and thrive through both.

“Frustrated by his inability to defend himself, he made a study of it.”

Louie is characterized early on as someone with Strength and Resilience who relies on his internal strength to deal with difficulties. Although it is not typically a good thing—learning to fight to deal with bullying—and Louie takes it to the extreme by beating random strangers, women, and even a copy, it does however portray Louie’s determination.

“For the first time in his life, he wasn’t running from something or to something, not for anyone or in spite of anyone; he ran because it was what his body wished to do. All he felt was peace.”

This quote explores the motif of running by showing the importance that it holds for Louie. Previously without direction and acting out against authority, he now realizes the “peace” that he can attain through physical exertion and competition—and success.

“A lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain. Louie thought: Let go.”

These thoughts from Louie, just before he runs one of the fastest laps in the history of the 5,000-meter run, convey his Strength and Resilience. This is just the beginning of the “pain” that he will need to endure throughout his life, but his strength allows him to push through it.

“In Texas, Louie was in a theater, watching a matinee. The screen went blank, light flooded the theater, and a man hurried forward. Is there a fire? Louie thought. Servicemen must return to their bases, the man said. Japan has attacked Pearl Harbor. Louie sat there, eyes wide, mind fumbling. America was at war. He grabbed his hat and ran from the building.”

The juxtaposition in this scene—Louie sits and enjoys a movie while Pearl Harbor is attacked, and World War II comes to the United States—conveys the Impact of War. War often starts, as it does for Louie, jarringly, pulling citizens from their lives and their homes and thrusting them into chaos.

“Along the way, they came upon several airfields, and were amazed to discover that all the planes and equipment were made of plywood, an elaborate ruse to fool Japanese flying reconnaissance. One day, this information would be very important.”

In this example of foreshadowing, Louie discovers that a lot of the airfields are fake—made of plywood and designed to look like real airfields to the Japanese. Later in the text, Louie uses this information to gain approval from his captors as he is interrogated. Instead of revealing truthful information, he can provide them with the locations of these fake airfields.

“In World War II, 52,173 airmen were killed in action. A Pacific bomber crewman’s tour of duty was just forty missions His chances of getting killed before he fulfilled it were fifty percent.”

Once again the narrative shifts from Louie’s life to relate relevant historical statistics. These facts about the number of airmen killed during the war help convey the dangers of the situation that Louie is in and build suspense as he flies on his missions.

“Before Louie had left the States, he’d been issued a Bible. He tried reading it to soothe his anxiety, but it made no sense to him.”

This quote foreshadows the significant role that faith will play in Louie’s journey. He first tries to read the Bible out of boredom but gives up due to his lack of understanding. However, when thrust into peril on the raft, even with no greater understanding of religion, he finds strength in prayer and faith, which helps him survive.

“Outside, it was hell on earth. Men moaned and screamed, one calling for his mother. Men’s eardrums burst. A man died of a heart attack. Another man’s arm was severed. Others sobbed, prayed, and lost control of their bowels. Phil had never known such terror.”

The vivid imagery of the bombing of Funafuti conveys the theme of the Impact of War. Not only does it describe the physical impact this event has on the men including the bursting of their eardrums and death, but also of the emotional impact, as the men sob, pray, and experience fear like they have never known.

“If we’re not back in a week, it read, help yourself to the booze.”

The note Louie leaves on his footlocker requesting the men to drink his booze if he does not return foreshadows the fact that he will be lost at sea. Additionally, it conveys the importance that the men’s ritual of drinking their deceased crewmates’ alcohol holds for Louie. Often left without a body and unable to perform proper funerals, the men pay respect to each other through sharing in the deceased person’s alcohol.

“Pushing away thoughts about the men who’d died, Louie pondered his escape from the wreckage. If he’d passed out from the water pressure, and the plane had continued to sink and the pressure to build, why had he woken again? And how had he been loosed from the wires while unconscious.”

This quote continues to develop the motif of faith in the text. Although Louie does not explicitly call it a “miracle” at the time, he will revisit how he was saved in the drowning plane when he experiences a religious rebirth under the influence of Graham’s ministry.

“A week after Green Hornet vanished, the search was abandoned. Phil’s crew was officially declared missing, and the process of informing family members began.”

The narrative shifts from Louie on the raft to an explanation of what is occurring back at the base. This builds the suspense and conveys the utter hopelessness of Louie, Phil, and Mac’s situation, as the search for them is suspended.

“It was their first food in well over a week. Between three men, a small fish didn’t go far, but it gave them a push of energy. Louie had demonstrated that if they were persistent and resourceful, they could catch food, and he and Phil felt inspired.”

Although the food Louie can catch is meager, the impact that it has on Phil and Louie’s hope for survival is great, which conveys the theme of Strength and Resilience.

“The bomber turned and flew toward the rafts again. Louie hoped the crew had realized their mistake and was returning to help. As the plane closed in, its side passed into view. All three men saw it at once. Behind the plane’s wing, painted on the fuselage, was a red circle. The bomber was Japanese.”

In an instance of situational irony, Louie, Phil, and Mac are hopeful as a bomber flies overhead and they do their best to get its attention. They assume that it is an ally. However, as the narrative builds the suspense of the moment, the identity of the plane becomes clear, first to the reader and then to the men.

“Louie had banged sharks on the nose but had never really felt their skin. Curious, he dropped a hand in the water and laid it lightly on a shark, feeling its back and dorsal fin. It felt like sandpaper. The second shark passed, and Louie let his hand follow its body. Beautiful, he thought.”

This quote is an example of juxtaposition. The imagery of the circling shark’s beauty is juxtaposed with the dangers of the situation. The juxtaposition also serves to build the suspense of the moment, as Louie is so distracted by the beauty that his guard drops, and sharks attack him moments later.

“Slipping between cool, clean sheets, their stomachs full, their sores soothed, they were deeply grateful. Phil had a relieved thought: They are our friends.”

In this instance of irony, Phil is grateful for the care that they are shown on the Marshall Islands by the men they thought were their enemies—the Japanese. However, his initial thoughts quickly reverse as their captors toss him and Louie into cells where they starve and interrogate them.

“On Kwajalein, Louie and Phil learned a dark truth known to the doomed in Hitler’s death camps, the slaves of the American South, and a hundred other generations of betrayed people: dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen.”

Louie and Phil’s first experience with torture and inhumane treatment begins the development of the theme of The Importance of Human Dignity. Hillenbrand compares their suffering to the Jews in death camps, the enslaved African Americans in the South, and “a hundred other generations.” Their connection: the loss of their humanity and their hope through the loss of their dignity.

“Asked what he was doing, Harris said he was reading a text he’d studied in school. In Ofuna, his astounding memory would be a blessing and a terrible curse.”

This quote is an example of foreshadowing. Harris will later use his photographic memory to redraw a map of the advancement of the Allied Forces, which the Bird will discover. As a result, the officers – including Louie – are lined up to be punched in the face over two hundred times by the other prisoners.

“For weeks, they prepared. The plan was potentially suicidal, but the prospect of taking control of their fates was thrilling. Louie was filled with what he called ‘a fearful joy.’”

Louie juxtaposes the idea of “fear” and “joy,” two contrasting thoughts, to convey his feelings about their plan to escape. At the root of their plan is their desire to “take control of their fates,” an idea that conveys The Importance of Human Dignity. Their treatment in the camps strips them of their dignity and autonomy. Even at the risk of death, the men would rather take back control and live as human beings than continue to suffer.

“Then came the B-29s, two hundred and twenty-nine of them, carrying firebombs. Encountering almost no resistance, they sped for the industrial district and let their bombs fall. The POWs saw fire dancing over the skyline. Twenty-six million square feet of the city was burning.”

This vivid description of the firebombing of Tokyo conveys the Impact of War. To force Japan’s surrender, even as the war came to a close, the Allied Forces destroyed cities throughout Japan, killing citizens and leveling their infrastructure.

“Days earlier, he would have killed the Bird without remorse. Now, the vengeful urge no longer had sure footing. The Bird was gone, and all Louie felt was rapture.”

After Louie and the other prisoners are freed, Louie realizes that he no longer has a burning urge to kill the Bird, despite his willingness to do so just hours before. This conveys the Importance of Human Dignity, as Louie’s freedom and reclamation of his dignity assuage his feelings of anger and revenge. Although Louie would later fixate again on revenge, these hesitant feelings are the first he has in what will lead to his forgiveness and redemption.

“Loue was disturbed by what years of worry had done to his brother. Pete was gaunt, and he’d gone largely bald. […] When reporters came to interview Louie, they crowded around Pete, assuming that of the two men, this haggard one had to be the POW.”

Louie’s shock at seeing what war did to his brother conveys one aspect of the Impact of War. In addition to war directly affecting Louie as he experienced it, he is also surprised to learn just how much it has affected his brother as he dealt with uncertainty, anger, fear, and more regarding Louie’s ordeal.