Survival of the Fittest

Survival of the Fittest Hard work and dedication are the sole two pieces to the puzzle of success. A goal set in one’s mind has the capacity to control their mind and guide them in the straight path. In the book Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, Louis Zamperini, who starts off his childhood as a complete mess of a child by stealing things and fighting with others, undergoes a personality change, turning into a confident and respectable man who is trained by his brother, Pete, to run on the track, starting on a simple high school track and escalating all the way up to running in the Olympics. Later, he embarks upon joining the air force and subsequently gets captured by the Japanese and is sent to POW camps. Throughout Louie’s entire journey in the war, one goal stays in his head, which is participating in the Olympics. Louie’s survival, through endless days of beatings, lacking adequate portions of food, and continuous exertion, was reliant on his remarkable health both physically and psychologically which he achieved solely because of his Olympic dream. Some say that his Olympic dream did more harm than good, but it actually helped him survive. This is because it gives Louie the ability to remain in a decent condition throughout his thirty-seven day journey on the raft; it also helps him endure nonstop harsh beatings given to him by The Bird when he was singled out for being famous; and it allows him to maintain hope and a positive attitude during his entire imprisonment overall. As Louie, Phil, and Mac are the three survivors of atrocious plane crash, they board a raft in the ocean and that is the beginning of a thirty-seven day journey for them, in which Louie constantly thinks about his future which incorporates the Olympics. On the raft, Louie seems to be in the best condition of all three men; Phil has a foul cut on his head, and Mac appears to be damaged psychologically. Louie’s health is spectacular at the time of the crash, and he had been working on it