What Is The Weakness Of Character In Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken

As the German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein once said, “Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” In Laura Hillenbrand’s nonfiction book Unbroken, the determined Louis Zamperini personified Einstein’s words when, against all odds, he survived his World War II bomber crashing into the salty Pacific, voyaging over 2,000 miles on the plane's safety raft. Determined to survive and find a way to get his war buddy’s home safely, Louie never gave up hope.

In the beginning of Hillenbrand’s book, she described Louie as a delinquent, but most of the time Louie gave what he stole to others. At school, Louie often got bullied; it had grew so violent that Sylvia, Louie’s sister, said, “ ‘He could have ended the beatings by
But Louie’s life after the war was hard for him, he married Cynthia Applewhite and “ Little Cynthia Zamperini, nicknamed Cissy, was born two weeks after Christmas “ (374). Louie drank most of every day, and Cynthia got so angry about it that she told him to stop most of the time because she barely talked to him anymore because he was usually drunk, or he was usually asleep from the night before. So, Cynthia had arranged for a divorce, hoping to find a better father for Cissy. Cynthia decided to go to a religious revival, where they heard Billy Graham, a preacher speaking about how divorce was wrong and how it shouldn’t happen. Cynthia told Louie that he should go to one of Graham’s sermons, and Louie grudgingly agreed. As he was there Graham talked about how Jesus forgives people who repent, and just then, Louie remembered that before the plane crashed he told god that if he survived then he would owe the rest of his life to god. That, was a turning point in Louie’s life, he stopped drinking, and him and cynthia decided not to get a divorce. Louie decided to stop drinking as in this quote: “ He carried the bottles to the kitchen sink, opened them, and poured their contents down the drain “ (383). He had finally stopped drinking, and he followed god for the rest of his life.

After reading the biography of Louis Zamperini’s life by Laura Hillenbrand, it’s obvious Louie’s determination carried him through many obstacles that were presented in his life story. Louie, determined to survive, without breaking, proved to everyone that a person who could be evil at the beginning, could turn so good and powerful and die that