Genre
Biography, Military History
Setting and Context
Predominantly World War Two, South Pacific and Japan
Narrator and Point of View
Author is the narrator writing from Louie Zamperini's perspective and her own point of view
Tone and Mood
Inspirational
Protagonist and Antagonist
Louie Zamperini is the antagonist; World War Two and particularly the Japanese guard Watanabe the antagonists
Major Conflict
Louie's battle to survive the elements whilst lost at sea and his personal conflicts with Japanese guards
Climax
Liberation of the brutal prisoner of war camps in Japan
Foreshadowing
The names of the American servicemen scratched into the wood at the first prison camp Louie was taken to, and their subsequent death, foreshadowed the experience awaiting Louie
Understatement
Louie called the time spent lost at see "difficult" which understates the life threatening conditions the men were in
Allusions
Many times in prison camps Louie is forced to race fit, healthy locals as the guards constantly allude to his past as an Olympian
Imagery
Guard Watanabe presents himself as a Japanese God and demands to be treated as such by the prisoners of war
Paradox
Whilst Louie was captive The Bird came to him in person to torture him physically, but after he was liberated and back safely at home, this torture continued as Louie's nightmares about The Bird were so vivid it was as if he was still in the same room, showing that although not physically a prisoner anymore, Louie was still imprisoned by the a toons of his torturer
Parallelism
Louie's brother's physical condition paralleled Louie's after the war as not knowing where or how Louie was had taken a similar physical toll on him as the degradation of the prison camp had taken on Louie
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The army was referred to as feet on the ground
Personification
The Camp planned an escape, the camp personifying the men captive within it who were devising an escape strategy