Unbroken by Hillenbrand L: A Review - Book Report/Review Example

Unbroken by Hillenbrand L: A Book Review Introduction The significance of war, especially the World War II is far much untold and with Robertson (2007) citing that there is an average death of 700 WWII veterans per day, there comes the ideal urge to record their experiences, to share their suffering, and to herald their heroic actions. Hillenbrand did just that in Unbroken which is a memoir that explicitly analyzes the bravery of a one Lieutenant Zampereni. Hillenbrand is credited for compelling narration and judging by the amount of detail that she used in her other authorship, the Seabiscuit, such compelling detail comes as no surprise. She is an author who, just like her tales, has defied the odds of sickness as she suffers from CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) that has largely kept her to the confines of her home. Ideally, the interview that constructed the bestseller book was largely conducted through phone. A Critical Summary In the spring of 1943, lieutenant Zampareni and his pilot crushed into the Pacific to mark the beginning of an odyssey. Hillenbrand managed to narrate, how the Zampareni narrated, how the heroine’s life changed from searching for survivors to surviving. However, their seven-week survival mired with constant danger from the predators in the water, starvation, and thirst through a journey of 2000 miles landed them in prison camps in Japan as they became POWs; much to the readers excitement. Hillenbrand intended to idealize the precepts of survival and the suffering extremities some citizens went through just so to protect their country. Zampareni was an award winning world class runner, a talent that has been jokingly referred to as ‘sired from his juvenile delinquency bouts that often resulted into petty crime and the subsequent runs to flee from the police.’ His exploits on the track, at his time, were only comparable to Hillenbrand’s other character, Seabicuit. Born and bred in Torrance of California, Zampareni was drafted into the WWII as a bombardier for the Green Hornet, a B24 bomber, a plane that on which he flew to his unfortunate fate in May 1943. How on this day just three of the eleven on board survived is saddening, but at the same time, the survival of the three could be welcome by veterans and many others who understand survival. The story continues to tell how the three survived on raw albatrosses fished from the sea and how storms that were considerably life threatening were sometimes welcome gladly as they were the only source of fresh water, for their deep thirsts. Survival even called on them to kill and eat their hunters, sharks, and when McManara died, the remaining two ate him too. At this point, Hillenbrand assumed the course of indicating the kind of mental resilience that is required to survive life- threatening ordeals. Ideally, the other two would have become heartbroken. However, they decided to see the sense of survival, even if it meant eating their friend’s carcass. This aspect in the book injects an out of the ordinary sensation and makes the readers feel the helplessness of the characters through the extremities that they had to undergo just so to survive. Singing and cooking imaginary meals, the two, Zampaneri and Russell, managed to reach land on the 46th day of their odyssey where they fell into the unfortunate captivity by the Japanese. Hillenbrand used the draft, on which the two friends sailed, as an intellectual refuge. With little to experience other than the often silence and darkness that faced them, the characters spent much of their time thinking. The draft thus creates a solitude experience for the readers, and helps them idealize just how it would be to appreciate the freedom of mind, and it influence in human life. Compared to American POWs in Europe, the Japanese POWs were worse off. Zampaneri recalled how he was subjected to torture, disease, starvation, slavery, and medical experiments. What ideally saved him was his heroic status of being an Olympian and so known in Japan. He was their tool for psychology and as such too precious to kill. Nonetheless, a sadist known as Mutsuhiro Watanabe spent most of his time torturing Zampaneri, taking little notice of his ‘celebrity’ status. Whence the news of hovering G.I planes hovering around would have been welcome news to POWs, to Zampaneri and his counterparts in Japan it was mixed news. That is because the Japanese were known for killing their captives rather than letting them go. According to Zampaneri, their ultimate rescue was sired by the atomic nuclear attacks on Japan as any direct invasion would have resulted to their deaths. Back at home, beginning life anew was a challenge to him, and he was faced with alcoholism amongst other problems. Ideally, Hillenbrand, in developing the story, projected the detail of Zampaneri’s suffering. Though the survivors on the raft had no idea how much psychological damage they were suffering, the author made to state how their singing and storytelling saved their psychology from breaking. This ordeal is almost similar to Yann’s Life of Pi, and is a fact that was discussed by Robertson (2007) who stated silence in solitude, though is an enlightening aspect, can undermine the ability to reason clearly. Style and Presentation Hillenbrand exquisitely and delicately examined the details of the suffering of her characters in the book. She dissected Zampareni to tell how men who undergo duress act, feel, or even psychologically defend themselves. She also used doubt to intercept flow and give the readers time to ponder about their favorite hero in the novel. This is projected when, despite the fact the she gives Zampareni passes in such instances, she questions his history. For instance, how and whence, in their poverty, they could afford a car. Hillenbrand used traditional narration in her writing, a factor that is much projected in the way she idealizes the terror that the characters went through as they faced different dangers to startle the readers. She also managed to make the characters’ lives seem as if they end at any time and thus caused avid readers much panic. Ideally, her writing is superfluous and the events are not preceded with intuition which is a factor that makes it more interesting to read. The story is both enlightening as it idealizes the horrors and suffering of war and at the same time entertaining. Conclusion Hillenbrand’s Unbroken has not assumed the usual trajectory of narrations of war that are based on heroism or aspects of pure suffering. She has used the story to highlight the significance of mental resilience against suffering. Ideally, the characters’ survival was aided by the fact that they developed psychological defenses, though subconsciously, to protect them from pain and constant threats and dangers. Zampareni is projected, not as a hero of war, but as a strong personality with the capacity of bearing suffering thus the title Unbroken. However, the literary piece also responds to the questions on personal experiences of the soldiers. That is because it covers the detailed encounters of constant threats and how the victims always end up embracing their suffering. References Robertson, D. (2007). Survive the savage sea. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Sheridan House. Read More