Background Notes – Unbroken
Mod.Humanities/Grad. Project
Overview
Author: Laura Hillenbrand
Published: 2010
Genre: Nonfiction, biography, historical
Setting: multiple; Torrance, CA; Berlin, Germany; Oahu, Hawaii; Funafuti, Tuvalu; Pacific Ocean; Kawjalein (Execution Island), misc. locations under Japanese control; Long Beach, CA
Point of View: Objective – like a reporter (no first person)
Themes:Perseverance and Suffering; Human Dignity; Savagery of War
Symbols:
The Graf Zepelin- is a symbol of what's to come—an era of terrible, and terribly destructive, war.
Planes – The Superman and Green Hornet – the two planes Louie flew on - are reminders of how unpredictable war is, and how many variables are at play at any given moment. They also make it explicitly clear that the men fighting are forced to make do with whatever equipment they're given—for better and for worse.
Sharks – While stationed on various Hawaiian islands, the men often pass their time by shooting at and blowing up the sharks nearby. Sharks represent the danger that lurks for Louie and his crewmates, and are also a means for understanding each of the men based on how they handle their presence.
Albatross –referenced from Coleridge’s poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” – albatross is associated with bad luck. Ignoring the warning from the poem, Louie kills the bird. Suggests the things that happen to the men are a result of killing the bird. Louie is haunted by a metaphoricalbatross of his own: the guard they call the Bird (the cruel man who tortured Louie and whom Louie just can’t forget).
Key Characters
Louis "Louie" SilvieZamperini
Louie is the hero of the story. He's the guy who almost breaks the four-minute mile, gets swept up into World War II, shot down in the Pacific, punches sharks in the face, etc.
Russell Allen "Phil" Phillips
Phil is the pilot. He has to go through everything Louie does (being shot at, lost at sea for forty-six days, impr...
Mutsuhiro Watanabe a.k.a. the Bird
Mutsuhiro Watanabe is a man of many names… and personalities. Known to his family as "Mu-cchan" (4.23.15), to everyone else as the Bird; lead torturer for Louis and others.
Cynthia Applewhite
Cynthia appears in the book's final part and ends up being the love of Louie's life.
Francis "Mac" McNamara
He's one of the crewmen on the Green Hornet. Mac's slow decline into madness might be the most difficult death to watch.
Crew of the Super Man
Other than their names and their positions, we don't get to learn too much about the personalities or private lives of the crewmen of the Super Man.
The Zamperini Family
Louie's family always supports him, from the time he's a trouble teenager, to when he's a track superstar, and, finally when he's a decorated war hero. Louis is very close to his brother Pete.
Kunichi James "Jimmie" Sasaki
Jimmie Sasaki remains a mystery from the beginning of the book up until the end. When we meet him, he's a track fan attending college with Louie.
Other Men
POWs Louie meets a variety of men as he's carted from POW camp to the next. Some he inspires, and some inspire him to hold on and survive.