American Spirit, The Frontier, and Unbroken

American Spirit, The Frontier, and Unbroken

The book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand talks about an American soldier who was an Olympic runner who got lost at sea when his fighter jet crashed. His name was Louie Zamperini. Louie was from Torrance, California, where he was introduced to running by his brother Pete. Pete helped Louie get into running because Louie was a troubled boy and would not listen to authorities. Louie then realized he was passionate about running, practicing daily to make new records. With all his practice and dedication, he was breaking and setting records for the fastest mile by a high school athlete. He eventually got so fast that he could qualify and compete in the 1936 summer Olympics in Berlin. After the Olympics, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps but opted out because he decided it was not for him. Louie was drafted back into the Army Air Corps for World War II. One day, Louie and his crew were sent on a rescue mission but had to crash land in the Pacific Ocean because of issues with their plane. With no other plane crews to help or radio communication, Louie and two crew mates were forced to survive stranded in the ocean for 47 days on a raft with little to no food or water. After 47 days, Louie and one of the other men were captured by the Japanese officers and taken to a POW camp where they were tortured and made to do very hard labor for the enemies.

Next, according to the reading Frontiers by Joyce Moser and Ann Waters, the American frontier is “an invisible border between settled and unsettled, civilized and uncivilized areas.” (Moser, Waters 92). This quote means there was never a set boundary of where one could set up to live and this left the people optimistic because they had hope to put up a house wherever they wanted. The specific trait of the American frontier I am going to discuss is optimism. I chose optimism because, while reading Unbroken and learning about Louie’s story, I felt that he and the other men had high hopes about being rescued. I saw this trait in this story multiple times, and it helped him stay motivated throughout the story. Louie was optimistic about running and where it was going to lead him in the future. He stayed focused and driven to becoming the best and fulfilling his dream of making it to the Olympics. It also helped him when he was in the military. While the men were out in the ocean, they just talked about the good times in life and did not let their current situation bring them down. Optimism is a part of the American consciousness because you need to have hope in order to stay positive and get through your toughest moments like Louie did.