After seeing the movie Unbroken, I felt compelled to read the book. It is the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete who endured incredible hardship as a survivor of a plane crash in open sea and then as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese. After seeing the movie, I could not believe what he went through but the book tells even more of what he had to endure. To emerge a survivor is truly incredible.
About 95% of the book is dedicated to the horrors that Zamperini experienced. But the title is misleading because Zamperini could not possibly have endured what he endured without being broken in some way. Every man has his breaking point. Zamperini post-war was a shell of a man. We learn of his alcoholism and recurring nightmares of his lengthy abuse at the hands of the sadistic Japanese guard "The Bird" beginning in Chapter 34. We learn of his overwhelming desire to find and kill "The Bird". We learn of his marriage falling apart. This is a man that is really broken. We would not have a movie if the story ended after Chapter 37. Zamperini would have been one of the many racked by the ravages of Post Traumatic Stress.
In Chapter 38, we learn of his coming to faith in Christ and in Chapter 39 we hear of him going to Japan to purposely forgive his captors. He even was willing to forgive "The Bird" who was determined to be alive but did not show up to face Zamperini. The book ends after Chapter 39 although there is an Epilogue that describes Zamperini's life post-conversion. The movie celebrates this man's endurance and so that is truly special. But it is false to think that this man was unbroken.
Time and space could not heal the deep wounds of his soul. God had to heal him.The opposite of broken is not unbroken, but healed. Zamperini was healed! What healed him was grace. Jesus Christ was broken in an even greater way. His undeserved breaking resulted in our healing. We cannot will ourselves from our brokenness - we have to be healed. Healing is being changed from the inside out and that is what Zamperini experienced. And that is why we have the movie.
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