As the Australian-Israeli businessman Frank Lowy once said, “The human being is very resourceful. When you fight for survival, you don't think much; you just do. If you think too much, you sink.” In Laura Hillenbrand's unforgettable, biography Unbroken, the ever resourceful Louis Zamperini was thrown into a haunting series of events after his B-24 bomber went down in the middle of the Pacific. Surprisingly, Louie survived the crash and other atrocities of World War II. Remarkably, Louis resourcefulness kept him and others alive during the long years following the crash.
“Fourteen-year-old Louie was in a locksmith shop when he heard someone say that if you put any key in any lock, it has a one-in-fifty chance of fitting. Inspired, Louie…show more content… Not only that, Louie was asked to make many public appearances which added on to his reason to worry. “One day not long after, as he sat at breakfast and fretted over the prospect of another speech, he broke out a bottle of Canadian Club whiskey and poured a shot into his coffee. That gave him a warm feeling, so he had another shot. It couldn't hurt to have a third. The whiskey floated him through that speech, too, and so began a routine. A flask became his constant companion, making furtive appearances in parking lots and corridors outside speaking halls. When the harsh push of memory ran through Louie, reaching for his flask became as easy a slapping a swatter on a fly” (347). Louie couldn’t forget his past, it followed him anywhere he went. This time, Louie used his ingenuity to drown out his past instead of helping others. Fortunately, Louie met Cynthia Applewhite, a wealthy twenty-year-old woman who had also grown up in Torrance. Louie had convinced Cynthia to marry him within a matter of weeks: “As Cynthia worked on her parents, Louie went into wedding overdrive. He tracked down reception sites, invitations, a caterer, and a jeweler. He found the Church of Our Savior, which Cynthia had attended as a child. He bought a used Chevy convertible and overhauled it to impress Cynthia.” (350). Louie has now directed his resourceful attitude towards finding a way, that he can afford, to marry Cynthia, instead of drowning out the past. He did marry her, but later then he hoped to. But it didn’t last long: The Bird and Louie’s time on sea continued to haunt him. “He started smoking again. There seemed no reason not to drink, so each evening, he swigged wine as he cooked, leaving Cynthia sitting through dinner with a tipsy husband...At first he drank just beer; then he dipped into hard liquor. If he got drunk enough, he could drown the war for a time.” (359). Again, Louie is using the
