Rhetorical Analysis Essay About Unbroken Movie

Surname 1

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

Rhetorical Analysis Essay about Unbroken Movie

Unbroken is an American film that is based on Laura Hillenbrand’s 2010 non-fiction

cognominal book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. The

movie was written and produced by Angelina Jolie and tells the story of American fight against

Japan during the World War II. The plot revolves around an American soldier, Louis “Louie”

Zamperini, who survives on a raft for 47 days after their American bombardier crashes into the

ocean. Zamperini is later imprisoned into several prisoner of war camps in Japan. The movie

uses pathos to elicit various feelings, logos to appeal to the logic, and ethos to prove its reliability

and accuracy to the viewers, as it can be seen from the actions, surroundings, and circumstances

the lead hero faces.

First, pathos refers to the emotion or the feelings of a person during a particular experience.

In the movie Unbroken, the directors use a wide variety of tools to elicit different emotions in

various scenes of the movie (McCormack). In the beginning of the movie, Zamperini is shown

piloting an American bombardier jet during an attack on the Japanese-held island of Nauru (Jolie

et al.). Although the plane is badly damaged the pilot manages to bring it to a stop at the end of

the runaway. The director of the movie uses this scene to set the tone for the rest of the movie.

The movie uses pathos to influence the views of the watchers (Higgins and Walker 198).

Specifically, this starting scene imposes a mixture of shock at the accident and hope that the

Surname 2

pilots will survive on the viewers. Thus, the directors of the movie made sure that they have the

audience attention chained to the screen from the very beginning.

The movie shifts to the early episodes in the life of Zamperini. As a young Italian-

American young man, Zamperini is a truant who prefers picking fights and smoking cigarettes

instead of concentrating in his class work (Jolie et al.). Throughout this time, the movie uses

pathos to depict Louie as an undisciplined boy without a bright future (Murthy and Ghosal 251).

The viewers are left wondering how the truant ends up among the crew flying the American

bombardier. During one of his escapades, Zamperini is caught looking up a woman’s dress and is

forced to flee from the ire of the angry mob (Jolie et al.). When his brother Peter observes how

fast Louie runs, he realizes that Louis can make a good athlete and trains him to realize his

potential (Hillenbrand 23). Louie gradually improves his athletic abilities and earns the nickname

“The Torrance Tornado.” Eventually, the lead character makes it to the Summer Olympics of

1936 in Berlin, where he comes in eighth, however setting a record for the time on the final lap

of the race (Jolie et al.). Throughout these scenes, the director of the movie depicts Louie as a

determined young boy with a great future. Consequently, the viewer cannot help but admire the

accomplishments of the young man who, in the previous events, was too indiscipline to achieve

anything in life.

The movie then moves back to the year 1943 when Louie and the other surviving members

of the crew are sent on a rescue mission. As the mission goes on, one of the engines of the plane

starts acting up, and while trying to bundle up on one engine the crew still ends up crashed in the

ocean (Hillenbrand 47). The director of the movie begins with an optimistic tone and the

spectators admire Louie, who is definitely on the path to greatness. However, these expectations

do not last long because the plane crashes into the ocean. During this turbulent time, Louie is the

Surname 3

constant inspiration for the others even at some point telling Mac to “Shut up” when he suggests

that they will die on the ocean.

The director leaves the audience in suspense as it waits and hopes that the crew members

will survive. During this scene, the director uses pathos to evoke a variety of emotions in the

souls and hearts of the viewers (Higgins and Walker 201). First, there is the rescue plane that

comes for Louie and his accomplices but does not find them. Next, Louie and his colleagues

have to fight off a shark attack while surviving on fish, birds, rations, and rainwater (Jolie et al.).

Phil even manages to joke that “This is how the Japs eat fish. Raw.” While their conditions are

dire, the viewers cannot help but admire the crew members for their bravery in the face of

uncertainty and danger. However, during this time one of the crew members, Mac, dies. When a

Japanese strike misses them, Phil muses that “If the Japs are this bad, we might even win this

damn war.”

During their time in captivity, the directors of the movie continue to use pathos to appeal

to the emotions of the viewers. In the dungeon, where Louie and Phil are kept, they learn that the

previous captured American soldiers were beheaded and the two wait for their imminent death

anxiously (Jolie et al.). Later, Phil and Louie are sent to different prisoner of war camps where

they are tortured continuously. Louie is sent to the Omori detention center in Tokyo whose head,

Mutsuhiro Watanabe, tortures him due to his status as a former Olympian and American soldier

(Jolie et al.). At some point, Watanabe asks Louie how they operated the Nawdn bombsight.

Louie replies “You just twist two knobs,” and asks “What happened to the Marines?”

Throughout the torture, the directors of the movie show the perseverance of the imprisoned

soldiers. In one instance, when Louie is exhausted, Watanabe orders him to lift a log and tells

him he will be shot in case of failure (Hillenbrand 221). However, Louie musters enough

Surname 4

strength to lift the log and even dares to look Watanabe in the eye. Louie is saved when the war

ends and he returns home and even forgives his captors.

Hence, the movie Unbroken uses logos to appeal to the logic of their viewers. First, the

movie is inspired by the real story that reflects the fate of almost every American soldier who has

been in military captivity. Therefore, all the scenes of the movie stay true to the real-life story of

Zamperini. For example, the life story of Zamperini mirrors that of the main actor Jack

O’Connell. This is reflected from the time of birth of Zamperini in 1917 to his death in 2014

(Jolie et al.). Additionally, the movie is a representation of the World War II and the dates

depicted in it mirror the events of the war. For example, Zamperini is captured on the 47

day

after the American bombardier crashes into the ocean. Furthermore, Hillenbrand’s book depicts

the inhumane treatment of captured soldiers in a similar way to the movie (Higgins and Walker

203). In her book, she writes that the prisoners of war were shot, burned, stabbed to death,

beaten, and killed during medical experiments.

Moreover, the movie Unbroken uses logos when depicting the life of American soldiers.

First, the majority of the fighters are endowed with athletic talents as is the case with Zamperini.

Therefore, it is only natural that Zamperini extends his athletic heroics into the army. During his

life in captivity, the lead hero faces similar predicaments that face American soldiers who are

captured abroad (Murthy and Ghosal 254). He is held in a prisoner of war camp where he is

tortured through beatings and hard labor. After the torture, Zamperini is given a way out of the

punishment if he agrees to send a message to the Americans back home (Jolie et al.). This is one

of the common techniques of spreading propaganda. While Zamperini agrees to send the first

message home, he is not freed as he had been promised. Thereafter, he refuses to send a second

message home as is the case with many American soldiers who refuse to give away their secrets

Surname 5

to the enemy. With this in mind, it is only logical that some soldiers, such as Mac, die during the

war.

The movie Unbroken makes a strong appeal to ethos to prove its reliability and accuracy.

First, the movie uses the language that is common during a war (McCormack). For example,

there is the use of such terms as soldiers, general, and bombardier. Secondly, the movie depicts a

lot of the items found during a war. For instance, the actors wear military fatigue and the

prisoners of war camps are found in remote areas with inhumane conditions. Furthermore, the

movie uses a balanced tone and does not come across as judgmental (Murthy and Ghosal 254).

The directors of the movie aim to show the courage and resilience of the soldiers without taking

sides.

The use of the first person narration avoids the bias that could result from the third person

narration. Furthermore, the narrators are effective when moving from one scene to the next

which ensures that the viewer experiences all the different circumstances of the movie. More

importantly, the use of several figures of speech throughout the movie enables the viewers to

identify with the characters (McCormack). For example, there are groans and mutterings when

Zamperini is beaten in detention. Finally, the reactions of the different actors are similar to those

of ordinary people in various circumstances. For example, the soldiers remain hopeful even

when their plane crashes. On the other hand, they have to persevere the torture in the detention.

In conclusion, the movie uses pathos, logos, and ethos effectively to provide a truthful

and insightful account of Zamperini’s imprisonment in Japan during World War II. The movie

uses pathos to appeal to the emotions of the viewers by showing the different conditions of the

actors such as hope, fear, disillusionment, resignation, perseverance, and forgiveness.

Additionally, logos appeals to logic by drawing on a real-life experience of a captured soldier

Surname 6

and drawing their parallels to the serving soldiers of the country. Finally, the movie uses ethos to

appeal to the real-life reliability of the movie by using the first-person style of narration.

Surname 7

Works Cited

Higgins, Colin and Robyn Walker. “Ethos, logos, pathos: Strategies of persuasion in

social/environmental reports.” Accounting Forum, vol. 36, no. 3, 2012, pp. 194-208.

Hillenbrand, Laura. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption.

Random House, 2010.

Jolie, Angelina, Matthew Baer, Erwin Stoff, and Clayton Townsend. Unbroken. Directed by

Angelina Jolie, Legendary Pictures, Jolie Pas, & 3 Arts Entertainment, 25 Dec. 2014.

McCormack, Krista. “Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: The Benefits of Aristotelian Rhetoric in the

Courtroom.” Washington University Jurisprudence Review,

openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1107&context=law_jurisprudence

. Accessed 10 Jul. 2017.

Murthy, Madhavi Latha and Madhumita, Ghosal. “A Study of Aristotle’s Rhetoric.” Research

Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 2, no. 4, 2014, pp. 249-255.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."