CTQ Number 5

     In life threatening situations, people show their true selves. The book 'No Saftey in Numbers' by Daynba Lorentz is an exciting book which takes place in a mall in the suburbs. On a busy Saturday a biological bomb in found in one of the mall's air ducts. The mall is locked down. Soon food and supplies begin to run out, and the people tyrn against one another. Although these people tend to form small, tightly knit groups, the groups themselves are in constant competition with everybody else in the m,all.

     Early on in the book, when there is still food and the bomb inst such a huge problem, the people begin to form groups.For example, Ryan and his football team join nup almost instantly. Mike says " stick with us!" as reassurs Ryan that he will watch his back. This shows that even early on in the book, people begin to look out for one another and portect each other. These little groups are very tightly knit, and hard to tear apart.

     However, these groups are ONLY looking out for themselves. When Ryan is beaten up by another guy (over some food), his group come after the people who beat him up. Ryan's friend Mike says, "you mess with my family, you mess with me." Although this sounds endearing, this little vengence fight results in one boy with a broken nose, and a few others unable to walk. This shows how the groups, although they watch out for eachother, are in constant competition with everyone else in the mall.

     In these types of situations, people show that deep down, they only care about themselves. All they want is their own survival. Although they may have formed small groups, they were in NO way untited. This book does not evision teamwork, rather, it shows how difficult it is for people to be selfless when they are in danger.

Critical Thinking Question (Number 8)

In the book Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand, Louie Zamperini survives catastrophic events. He survives out at sea for weeks with out food or water. He must capture rainwater and kill fish to survive. Then he is captured and brought to a POW camp in Japan. Louie almost died at that camp. The way Louie faced death, starvation, violence, and cruelty is truly inspirational.

There are some really straining issues in this book, such as POW camps. In these camps violence is a HUGE issue. For example on page 251, a commander began to beat Louie with a belt buckle, simply because he was the last to salute. Louie was knocked uncounsious. He was deaf in one ear for weeks. The same commander would beat Louie relentlessly, resulting in a sharp decline of his health, because he was not only being beaten daily, he was also severely malnourished. 

     Another issue (mentioned above) that Louie faced was starvation. Each day he was provided with only soup; vegetable broth with rancid rice. The food was "infested with rat droppings, maggots..." (page 197). The food also had gravel in it that cracked and pitted Louie's teeth. He was recieving only 500 calories a day, in other words, he was slowly dying of starvation. The men were also forced to carry out extremely strenuous work, which only served to quicken the effects of this dire malnutrition that the men faced.

     There are no more POW camps in Japan. But their effects remain apparent. There were many men that never returned home, because of starvation, sickness, or the kill-all rule. Still more were very sick or injured when they were rescued. They were not treated at all for sicknesses like scurvy, which were common in the camps. To these starved men, scurvy could be fatal. And all those who made it home were scarred for life. Many took up drinking or smoking. Some had behavioral problems, shell shock, nightmares, etc. One man slept with a gun under his pillow and a stockpile of canned food under his bed for the rest of his life.

     All in all, there were many really hard events that Louie had to endure, and although they may not be as large of a problem, they still affect people today.