There is a belief that after being broken, a bone heals and becomes even stronger. When we look at the people who have left a mark on this world (whether being historians, inventors, scientists, etc.), they have all went through failures. Failure is something that no one wishes to come across, but like this concept of a broken bone coming back stronger, in order to be successful or strong, you have to experience failure and brokenness; not only that, but part of the process of healing includes you having to get up yourself, without always relying on the people around you. We look at people like Malala Yousafzai, a young activist who fights for female education. Before becoming successful and winning a Nobel Prize, she was shot in the head by a terrorist group for protesting. Instead of seeing her work as a failure, she got back up, and worked as hard as possible to bring a change into the world; she was successful. We also see people like Albert Einstein, a well-known theoretical physicist. To his accomplishments, there was also a time of brokenness. As a young adult, Einstein had troubles finding employment and his father died, believing he was a failure. When he started working as a scientist, his job became extremely costly, causing him to lose his wife and children. Beyond that, he came back to be an iconic and well-known figure. Then, we see Louie Zamperini. Being known as an ‘unbroken’ man, he too had to go through a lifetime of struggles to come back stronger, redeemed, and forgiving of the people who had broken him. This is what the title “Unbroken” means in Laura Hillenbrand’s novel.
This is the beginning of an essay I wrote about the best novel I read in this class. (Click on the link for the full essay). Because of my excitement of the novel, I worked so hard to make my first paragraph attention-grabbing and very deep. Our teacher also put in a lot of her time to try to help us write the best essay, as this was the last expository essay that we would write in her class. The question presented was, "What does 'Unbroken' mean in the novel?" I wrote my essay in a different perspective that many people wouldn't think of, which is why it is my best work in the class. I have also painted a canvas showing a very important scene from the story. I think the painting is very important to add to the essay because it portrays the feeling and vibe of the story. This the other peice to my best work because it conveys a message that "Where there is life, there is hope". (If you read the novel, you'll understand what it means.)