English 325, Blog Post 9: Unwind

In this week’s blog I am going to be focusing on the novel “Unwind” written by Neal Shusterman.  This novel is in a sense an almost realistic dystopian text. What is meant by this is the pro-choice and pro-life supporter battle. This is a battle that we as a society are facing today and this type of battle does potentially have the significance to end up reaching these types of decisions to be made. It is safe to say that children could have their organs and whatnot donated to others. With all this being said it’s a very easy topic to relate to the audience and makes for some great conversations and arguments. As for the details of the novel I found it most honorable how Connor took the baby from the doorstep even while he and his fugitive friends are wanted. It takes a lot of courage for someone of such young age to think beyond just them.  This could be a great theme to bring up in the classroom; courage. Was Connor acting courageous while initially going AWOL or was he just doing what he had to do to survive? I also had a lot of respect for Risa because she took her chance for survival on the fly, nothing was planned yet she took the opportunity arose by Connor to survive.  Obviously the audience is going to feel bad for Lev due to his most unfortunate circumstances (it was weird his sudden change in heart wanting to be unwound for honor then helping out the others very suddenly) however this is what made this book a good read. In having three different circumstances for the three main characters to prevent their “unwinding” made the reader realize that this new way of living didn’t care if you were rich, poor or medium class. It was all dependent on the guardian, something that is original and fresh to read.  I also was really fond how this novel had the characteristics of the Underground Railroad epidemic. People were helping the less fortunate and in this case children with networking sources and safe houses.  It’s as though history is repeating itself in America if this were to become a real thing, another great topic in which to bring into the classroom. The books climax ending was a bit surprising. It took another piece from past historical events with involving suicide bombers. The historical incorporation was done very well in this text. I never expected Lev to alter his mind in order to save Connor and still don’t have any respect for him because he was the one who signaled for the bombers to detonate in the first place. This is not a heroic act; the heroic act occurred when turning himself in so he could do no more damage. The author did a good job in incorporating a character like Lev because it kept the audience on its toes and could never expect what he would do next. I believed the party at the Admirals house was fitting and sincere, it was a good satisfying point in the book. Connor becoming Admiral was an event you could foresee throughout and was necessary to end it all. I would give this book a grade of a B. I would teach this in a classroom setting.