Unwind | Teen Ink

Unwind

February 13, 2012
By Jonathan007 BRONZE, Ypsilanti, Michigan
Jonathan007 BRONZE, Ypsilanti, Michigan
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

After reading the book Unwind, I thought it was an amazing story. The way that the story flows and perspectives between characters change throughout the chapters makes it very interesting. Once you start reading, its hard to put down. Within the book, there is an issue called unwinding. Unwinding is when a person is taken apart and used as “spare parts” for other people to use. If someone needs an arm, bam... an unwind’s arm can be taken and the bad arm can be replaced. I think that this is an unfair process, as the individual being unwound has no say whether they are unwound or not. Their parents just sign the paper and they get picked up the next morning. I have learned to appreciate life more from reading this book. The fact that one signature can take a life away is not something that I think should be allowed.


One of the most shocking sections of the book was where a character named Roland is unwound (pages 288-294). It goes step by step through the process. His body parts are removed one by one from the feet to his brain, and through the entire process, he is conscious. It is shocking to read this, and according to the book, hundreds and hundreds of unwinds go through this process every day. Each life is precious! They should not be taken away like that! Unwinding is equivalent to stealing and murder. The owner’s body is taken from them and their conscience slowly disappears into nothingness.


Another example of why life is precious and should be appreciated is that people make attachments to others, and if that is taken away, there is a hole left in the other person’s heart. An example of this is at Lev’s tithing party. This is the big party before Lev is sent off to a harvest camp to by “Tithed”, which is the same as being unwound. At the party, Lev’s big brother Marcus has an outburst because of how upset he is that his brother is being unwound (page 29 and 30). He knows that he will miss his little brother, because he means a lot to him. Lev should be able to choose weather he is to be unwound or not. His life is as important as any other person, and he has a right to choose what he wants to do with it.


Even little children have a right to be taken care of and loved. They have no way to stick up for themselves so we must stick up for them. A scene on pages 73 to 75 show how Connor remembers how a baby was passed around in his neighborhood. He was hiding in the bathroom of a high school to avoid being caught by security, and he was talking with Lev and Risa. He explained to them how when he was younger, his family had been storked. His family had no intention in keeping the baby, so they passed it on to another family, hoping they would think that they had been storked by the original mother. A couple weeks later, the baby showed up on their porch again, and it was very sick. The baby died, and since they were in legal possession of the child, they payed for the funeral. The entire neighborhood came to the funeral. Connor later realized that it was them that had passed the baby around the neighborhood from house to house, and that they were as much at fault as his own family. I think that this story is meaningful because it shows how one life can be so small and easy to put out, like a candle slowly sinking into some water. This baby had no way to take care of itself. It needed love from a mother. Food and shelter. This child had none of these things, so it kept getting sicker and sicker. This makes life all the more precious to me. I feel like it should be protected, and that people should be more caring for those who need it.


Of all the things in the world, Life is the most precious. It should be protected and there should be laws that make it illegal to take away. Murder is one thing, but unwinding is almost worse! No, the individual is technically not dying, but are they really alive? Does having no body to exist in really count as living? I don’t think so. And I think that if someday unwinding became a reality, I would not want to live in this world. Life deserves to be protected.


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