The novel (for older teens) Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, addresses a plethora of issues surrounding identity, autonomy, and sanctity. If you read this novel it will challenge your own ideals, even if you believe them to be well founded. The narrative of the novel weaves political and religious issues into philosophical ones and when finished with the novel, you will most likely wrestle with the foundations of your own personal ideals. Immediately upon opening the book, you are faced with the Bill of Life, a document that consciously mirrors another Americans hold dear to their concept of patriotism and personal realization. It sets the tone and ideological foundations for the novel and is the reason why Connor Lassiter, age 16, is forced to reassess his sense of self when he discovers his parents have signed the order for him to be unwound.
At first the premise of the novel sounds far fetched and unrealistic: our characters live in a near-future United States, after the Second World War in which Pro-Choice and Pro-Life armies fought and killed to maintain their ideals (I encourage you to read about these subjects to discover what you think about the issues). The result is a preposterous compromise in which a pregnancy can be retroactively “aborted” after the age of 13 and until the age of 18. Teens everywhere become possible commodities because their bodies, if retroactively “aborted,” are unwound. This process systematically dismantles, but does not technically kill the host teen and disseminates his or her organs and tissues to recipients in need. As adult and teenaged characters are introduced, it becomes apparent that this “Great Compromise” does not necessarily produce the guilt-free results it purports to do. One of the unspoken results of unwinding is a split of the donor’s consciousness and muscle memory through the population of organ recipients. Instead of our present day reality of black market organ selling, in Connor’s world this is common trade. Another result of unwinding is the growing guilt of the adult population, evident in the actions of a few conscientious individuals.
To our sensibilities, Connor is just another troubled teen—he gets into fights, he tries to maintain a tough exterior, he doesn’t get along with his parents. But when his parents decide to have him unwound, his fight or flight urge kicks in and he does both. Along the way he picks up Risa, a state ward who is being unwound because of budget cuts and rescues Lev, a tithe whose religious family chose to have him to unwound and donated to humanity in the name of God. Each of these three main characters is developed in separate chapters of the novel and through their struggles they each come to understand their own ideals and their misgivings about the society in which they live.
The plot itself is exciting and a page turner, with underground networks of Unwinds trying to reach freedom, terrorists using the exiled Unwinds for their own schemes, and jaded authority figures in between. At first I thought this novel would be another “wham bam thank you ma’am” experience, with little thought to character development. I was completely wrong. While the characters generally act as you would expect them to, it is in ways that develop them into adults and it reflects on the choices all teenagers must make as they accept responsibility and work to become adults. There just happens to be a lot of action and a lot of “bigger picture” issues acknowledged along the way in this novel.
Shusterman doesn’t necessarily tell his readers what to think about the issues of abortion, religion, consciousness, the soul, organ donors and organ harvesting, parenting, or politics. He merely weaves these questions into his narrative and lets the reader muse over them. In this respect, the novel allows for a dialog between readers and people interested in these issues. It is also a compelling read and each character complexly explores his and her own personal issues. Ultimately each character works through their own questions about how to be a thoughtful and successful citizen in their community. Connor struggles to control his temper and make wise decisions, Risa reflects on her complacency while living in the State Home and her growing resistance to the wrong types of authority, Lev battles with his loss of the faith he thought he knew and trusted and learns to be an individual.
While this novel touches on several important and very controversial issues, it doesn’t necessarily make assumptions about its readership and what we believe, for we all believe something a little bit different. By weaving these contemporary issues into a dystopic future, it reminds its readers that we all must address these issues on some level even if we’re not technically faced with the ramifications of Unwinding.
