On page 4, Hillenbrand writes, “The ship passed over Nuremberg, where fringe politician Adolf Hitler, whose Nazi party had been
trounced in the 1928 election, had just delivered a speech touting selective infanticide. Then it flew east of Frankfurt, where a Jewish woman named Edith Frank was caring for her newborn, a girl named Anne.” Why do you think Hillenbrand uses these allusions, references to Adolf Hitler and Anne Frank, as part Louie’s story?
Hillenbrand uses allusions to Adolf Hitler and Anne Frank to make a connection to the story of Louie who had his life modified by World War II.
Explanation:
One afternoon in May 1943, an American Air Force plane crashed into the middle of the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving behind some debris and a trail of oil and blood. Then on the surface of the ocean a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant Louis Zamperini, who was struggling to reach a small lifeboat where two more men were. Thus began one of the most striking odyssey of World War II. Wandering for weeks and thousands of miles, they faced hunger and a desperate thirst, sharks jumping in the boat, an attack by a Japanese bomber and a typhoon with waves more than twelve meters high. Finally they spotted an island. As they paddled to it, a Japanese military ship was approaching. Louis's journey had just begun. As a child, he was an incorrigible rebel. Adolescent, he channeled rebelliousness into athletics and discovered a talent that led him to the Berlin Olympics and the prospect of winning a gold medal in the following Games. But with the beginning of the war, Zamperini was forced to give up his dream. With a rich and intense narrative voice, Invincible is the fascinating account of the human courage and daring, persistence and naivety of a man who refused to be defeated.
