Louis Zamperini is in a POW camp in Japan. He was captured during battle and taken captive. He is now barely surviving in a camp that provides him with little food, water, or basic necessities. He is forced to do hard labor in terrible conditions. Odysseus was also taken captive. He is a Greek sailor from the little island of Ithica in the Ionian Sea. His ship, spotted by a Japanese seaplane, was captured. He and his crew were divided up and sent to different POW camps in Japan. Odysseus was sent to Ofuna, the same POW camp Zamperini was being held captive in. Socrates is a guard at the Ofuna POW camp. His job is to watch over the captives while they are in their cells. He is to treat them inhumanely. They do not deserve the respect of being treated like a human being; therefore they should be deprived of basic necessities. Socrates however has a slightly gentler nature than the other Japanese guards. He likes to carry on conversations with the captives to keep their mind off the cold, lonely cell they must live in. Earlier in his life, Socrates travelled and studied all around the world. He had an affinity for philosophy, so he went to Greece to study the great philosophers. However when the war broke out, he was drafted and became a guard at POW camps. Odysseus and Zamperini would become good friends in the POW camp and Socrates would become their favorite guard.
Zamperini and Odysseus meet at the camp while doing hard, labor intensive work. They bond over stories about their life before the POW camp and the details of their capture. Zamperini and Odysseus decide it would be great to share a cell because they enjoy each other’s company so much. They do some trading and sneaking around and are able to room in the cold, dull cell together.
One day Odysseus and Zamperini are talking about the harsh punishments of the main guard, the Bird.
“ He [is] absolutely the most sadistic man I [have] ever met,” said Odyesseus.
As they are talking Socrates approaches their cell. The men immediately stop talking, fearing they will be punished for their chatter. Instead of punishing them, Socrates engages them in conversation.
“Hello men. You’re not happy with the punishments you must endure? Don’t worry, you can answer honestly,” said Socrates. “Well sir, they are so cruel. It sometimes becomes difficult to endure,” said Zamperini. “Ah I see. Do you not believe you deserve to be punished?” asked Socrates. “Yes sir. I didn’t do anything wrong,” answered Zamperini. “Hmm. I’d consider engaging in acts of war to be doing something wrong. Enduring the punishments of doing wrong is just part of the game,” said Socrates. Zamperini and Odysseus think about what Socrates say. Odyesseus cannot believe that anything could be worse than suffering wrong.
“The torture we must suffer through is far worse than any act of violence I committed during the war. Socrates, you do not know what it is like to go through the inhumane punishments of your POW camps. Doing wrong is far less painful than suffering wrong” said Odysseus.
“Debatable,” said Socrates. “The greatest of all misfortunes is to do wrong” (Plato, 41). “The man who gets away is the more miserable” (Plato, 48). “Do you see what I’m saying Odysseus? Punishment corrects the effects of doing wrong. It is better to pay your charges than to get away having not paid anything,” said Socrates.
“Oh Socrates! Do you not know the pain we must go through!?” exclaimed Zamperini. “ I would rather kill a hundred men than endure the wrath of the Bird,” said Zamperini.
“But wouldn’t that be more shameful?” asked Socrates. “Doing wrong is more shameful and also worse than suffering wrong because bad and shameful are synonymous,” said the wise man. “Whenever one of the two shameful things is the more shameful, it must be because it is either more painful or more evil or both” (Plato, 50). “Doing wrong does not exceed suffering wrong in pain, as you said before, so it must be the greater evil,” stated Socrates.
“Hmm Socrates, you make a good point,” answered Odysseus. “Yes I agree. Although I can barely stand suffering wrong in this POW camp, doing wrong would be a much heavier weight on my conscience,” said Zamperini.
“Exaclty,” answered Socrates. “Although I agree that suffering wrong is more painful, it is far more emotionally damaging to bare the burden of doing wrong,” said Socrates.
Socrates quietly retreated back to his post and left the men deep in thought. Zamperini and Odysseus used the idea that suffering wrong is better than doing wrong to endure the cruel punishments at the POW camp. This mode of thought eventually got them through the war and back home, alive.