TOW #16- IRB

One of the most impactful parts of "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand was the chapter called "The Boiling City".  In this chapter the author's use of detailed description brings the book to life.  I think one of the most important parts of this story is attempting to understand and feel the characters' emotions as the war consumes them.  And sometimes, it is important to recognize that we cannot understand what it is like to be them in that situation.  The author does a skillful job of describing parts of Louie's experiences so that the reader can get a glimpse into his life.  In the beginning of the chapter, Hillenbrand describes the city and the people in it.  She writes, "No one in Naoetsu was sleeping.  B-29's crossed over every night, and the air-raid sirens wailed for hours on end, competing with the roar of the planes, " (300).  Her use of personification between the sounds in this description gives the readers a piece of how Louie must have felt.  Her use of the word wailed gives the readers a grasp on the blaring noises in this city during the war.  Just something as simple as her word choice impacts the readers' perception of the text much differently.  Another deeply descriptive section in this chapter is towards the end.  Hillenbrand explains the crewmen's bomber plane flight over Hiroshima.  She describes, "...the sky over the city ripped open in a firestorm of color and sound and felling wind.  A white light, ten times the intensity of the sun, enveloped the plane as the flash and sound and jolt of it skidded out in all directions... A fantastically huge, roiling cloud, glowing bluish gray, swaggered over the city.  It was more than three miles tall."  (306)  Hillenbrand's account of this event that most readers have heard of or studied in history class is much different than most people have ever known about the bombing of Hiroshima.  It takes a much closer scope to the event, and makes it seem more personal, more impactful.  Again, her use of personification adds to her description.  Also, her transition between long descriptive sentences to short ones gives a blunt feeling to the chapter's end.  After more description she writes, "Below it, Hiroshima was boiling. " (306)  This final sentence leaves an impact with readers far beyond what any history book would tell them.  The imagery used in this chapter is amazingly descriptive and gives readers a chance to view certain historical events from a different angle entirely.  Hillenbrand's use of descriptive language in this chapter stood out to me as one of the most effective skills that she uses throughout the entire book.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it is very easily one of my favorite books I have read.