Essay Topic 4: Discuss the role that running had in Louis Zamperini’s life. Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand is a biography about Louis Zamperini and his journey in life. The novel takes the reader through Louis’ childhood, his running career, his stay in Japanese POW camps, and his later life. His track career and his time in the Olympics had a major effect on him by getting him out of trouble when he was younger, saving his life, causing him depression, and allowing him to meet influential people. From the time Louis starting running it would impact him for until he died. As a young boy, Louis Zamperini was constantly getting in trouble. He would often times steal food from people, although he was not very talented …show more content…
Louis began to train for the Japan Olympics, but they were cancelled due to the war and he became part of the military. Time goes by and his plane goes down and the men are stranded in the middle of the ocean. Eventually they find land, but they are taken to a POW camp. When they arrive at the camp, the Japanese know of Louis’ fame in running, but they initially don’t treat him any differently. His life is spared, because they figure that they could use him as a propaganda tool. During his time in POW camps, he is asked to race against different people. In the first race, he races against a civilian and won. The man was unhappy and in turn beat him on the head with a club. His proficiency in running at this point did not help him stay safe, but instead hurt him. The second time he raced however did help Louis. He was asked to throw the race, and if he did he would win two rice balls. This small amount of food helped Louis not starve as much as he had been. The life in the camp was tough for Louis, but his running ability did help him in multiple points, even if the outcome was small. Not only did they help him get out of sticky situations, it also helped his morality. Through his running career he had to persevere, and that is exactly was he had to learn to do in the