The undead brothers: the comparison of hugh glass from the revenant and louis zamperini from unbroken

Introduction

“ I believe in one thing only, the power of the human will.” (Joseph Stalin) This is a quote from a book called “ Man of Steel” by Joseph Stalin and the first thing that comes to mind is Hugh Glass from the book “ The Revenant” by Michael Punke and Louis Zamperini from the book “ Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. the reason that these two men come to mind is that they both suffered severely and both overcame the challenge and either got revenge, or got rescued from the hellhole they were in, but their are some differences between Hugh and Louis, for example, they were in a different period of time, and the way information got around was different.

The Similarities

Hugh Glass is a fur trader and a adventurer, and Louis Zamperini is a Italian American Soldier that fought in World War II, but they do have some similarities. One being that they both came over obstacles that others thought was impossible, for example, when John Fitzgerald and Jim Bridger left Hugh Glass in the forest to die, they never thought that he would come back alive and got his revenge on Fitzgerald. And Louis was beaten by the Japanese prison officers so badly that they thought Louis would just give in and listen to the officers and do what they said, but Louis didn’t, that’s what make Hugh and Louis similar. Another reason that makes Hugh and Louis similar is that when everyone thought they were dead, they came back like a revenant, Hugh came back when everyone, even Fitzgerald and Bridger thought he was dead, and Louis came back when all of his family, friends and the US army thought he was dead.

The reason that kept both Hugh and Louis alive, is hate, and the power of the human will, another reason that they are similar is that the time period these two men were in is different, but the way information got out and weather or not the people believe the information is similar too. For example, in the time period that Hugh was in, everyone believed anything that anyone else says, but in Louis’s time period, there would be video or audio proof that something has happened. The reason that Hugh was left to die by Fitzgerald and Bridger and no one went out to find him is because there was no proof that he died other than the words or Fitzgerald and Bridger and the fact that Hugh was badly injured by the bear and could not recover, and the reason that the US army and Louis’ loved ones thought that he was dead is because that the Japanese said that they executed Louis and the other POWs was because everyone knew how the Japanese were at war and believed that they actually executed the POWs.

The Differences

But there are differences between Hugh and Louis too, one is the way they came back from the dead, and the way they were treated was different too, the way that Hugh was treated was that he was betrayed by his own crew members and was left in the forest to die, but Louis was tortured and beaten and humiliated to break his spirit. Another thing that was different between them is the way that they “ came back from the dead”, the way that Hugh came back from the dead is that he was struggling to keep himself alive and had to walk and crawl hundreds of miles, but Louis was in one place most of the time and was fed and even though he was struggling, he never had nothing to eat or had to crawl or walk for hundreds of miles. And the last difference that they had was that Hugh got revenge on Fitzgerald by killing him but Louis did not get revenge on The Bird.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the two had a lot of similarities, both of them overcame insane obstacles just to see the ones they hate dead, and the motivation is pure human will. Though there are not a lot of differences, there are still some of them, they did not come from the same background and their story did not end the same. But both of them are men that everyone can take inspiration from and respect.