Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Unwind, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Inequality, Injustice, and the Law
Anger, Violence, and Radicalization
Activism, Compassion, and Atonement
Morality and Perspective
Summary
Analysis
Didi cries inconsolably. Connor wants to complain, but he knows that it’s his fault. In town, he hears kids talking anxiously about the clappers. He congratulates Risa on suggesting they pretend to be clappers, and they praise each other for their good ideas. Risa notes that they’re less dysfunctional without Lev, which makes Connor feel angry. He says that Lev will get what he wants now, but he still regrets not being able to save him.
While pretending to be clappers was undeniably a successful move, posing as terrorists is still an awful thing to do—the fear of the people around them was genuine and, some might argue, their choice was unethical for this reason. However, in a world that, to them, seems wildly unethical to begin with, posing as terrorists begins to look like a justifiable option.
Themes
Connor and Risa enter the antique shop, which contains antiques like iPods and plasma-screen TVs. An old woman with a cane gruffly asks her what they want, and Risa says they’re looking for Sonia. The woman says that she’s Sonia and asks if they’re clappers. In response, Connor punches the wall and points out that he didn’t explode. Sonia stops him from leaving with her cane and says that Hannah called. Loud enough for the other customer in the store to hear, she suggests they go check out the baby things in the back. Risa insists they need to trust Sonia and hands Didi to Connor. He’s surprised that Didi isn’t heavier. He thinks that they could stork her again. However, although he doesn’t want her, he can’t deal with someone else wanting her even less.
Connor’s internal argument about what to do with Didi again shows that even if he recognizes that storking poses major problems, he still isn’t in a place to really do anything about it—in fact, taking Didi on has put him in more danger and is possibly hurting any chances Didi might have for a better future. This begins to suggest that while Connor may have done a good thing by snagging her, part of being an effective activist is knowing one’s limits—overreaching can have unintended negative consequences for all.
Themes
Connor begins to feel angry in the way that gets him in trouble. Risa gathers milk, a bowl, and a spoon, and after taking Didi back, begins to feed her. Connor is impressed, and Risa explains that she got to take care of babies at the state home. Connor is exhausted and wonders if his parents are looking for him. He thinks that if he’d run away with Ariana, they would’ve gotten caught immediately. Sonia joins them, laughs when they insist they don’t want to be trouble, and tells Risa to have Connor get her pregnant again—she can’t be unwound that way. Risa’s jaw drops and Connor says Didi isn’t theirs.
The rule stating that female teens can’t be unwound if they’re pregnant opens up the possibility that the laws and systems are more dysfunctional than ever. This implies that there may be teens who understand that being pregnant is the only way to escape unwinding and therefore do what they can to get pregnant, thereby creating even more possibly unwanted children and perpetuating the cycles of unwinding and storking.
Themes
Sonia motions for Connor to move a huge, heavy trunk and then reveals a trapdoor. She leads the way down and flips on a light, revealing two boys and a girl, all terrified. Sonia shows Connor and Risa around and leaves. The lanky blond boy, Hayden, looks wealthy. Mai, an Asian girl wearing a spiked leather choker, insists they’ll die, but Roland, a tough-looking boy with a shark tattoo, taunts her for her outlook. All three have horrible pasts: Hayden’s divorced parents “solved” their custody battle by unwinding him, Mai’s parents wanted a boy, and Roland beat his stepfather for beating his mom, but his mom took the stepdad’s side. Connor decides to never turn his back on Roland.
The various stories telling how each teen’s guardians decided to unwind them begins to show that it’s not just those who are economically vulnerable that suffer—kids like Hayden, who grow up wealthy but have parents who are unspeakably selfish, take the fall for that selfishness. Notably, even though Hayden does grow up with money, that doesn’t save him. As an Unwind, he has just as few rights as those who come from other walks of life, reinforcing that all teens are vulnerable because of how few rights they have compared to adults.
Themes
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Connor soon feels claustrophobic. He knows that Risa is thankful to have something to do as she cares for Didi. Mai reads and Roland organizes food and divides it out. When Connor pushes back, Roland hands him a can of Spam and tells Connor to straighten out if he wants better. Hayden resolves the situation by grabbing the Spam and starting to eat it. Roland and Connor glare at each other until Connor compliments Roland’s socks. Connor joins Hayden and the two chat as they share Spam. Connor admits that Didi isn’t his or Risa’s, and Hayden tells Connor to let Roland think he’s in charge.
Connor’s sense of claustrophobia puts him at risk of striking out in anger, especially with someone like Roland around. Roland likely feels more in control when he can bully others and divvy out who gets what, which does suggest that Roland may come from a life in which he didn’t have much control. Hayden believes that it’s a kindness to everyone to let Roland stay in control, if only to avoid violence in such a small space.
Themes
Connor can’t sleep the first night. He doesn’t trust Roland. Mai and Hayden are also awake, and Hayden lights a candle and passes his hand over it. Hayden admits that he’s been thinking about unwinding. Nobody really knows how it works, but he wants to know. Connor gets it: Hayden likes being on the edge of danger or of dangerous thoughts, just like Connor does. Hayden stops smirking and says if he gets unwound, his parents might get back together. Mai says they’ll just blame each other, but Hayden suggests they could reenact Humphrey Dunfee. Mai has never heard the story, so Hayden puts his candle between them all like a campfire.
For someone like Connor who just wants to avoid unwinding at all costs, it’s not worth it to consider what happens during the unwinding process or after—doing so may possibly nudge him in the direction of supporting unwinding, something he can’t afford to do if he wants to stay alive. Hayden, however, makes the case that it’s very possible to know everything there is to know about something controversial like this and still maintain one’s position.
Themes
Hayden says that Humphrey isn’t the kid’s real name, but his parents had him unwound. It went off without a hitch, but his parents were unstable to begin with and lost it after Humphrey was unwound. They went on a rampage to find all the people who received Humphrey’s parts, kill them, and put their son together again. Hayden makes Mai jump, which makes Connor laugh. Roland appears, irritated, and sends them to bed. Mai confirms that Humphrey Dunfee is just a story, but Hayden says he knew a kid who supposedly had Humphrey’s liver and disappeared.
Humphrey Dunfee’s story is one in which, importantly, violence gets passed along from one person to the next—Humphrey’s parents unwind him (which is an act of control and violence), and then set out to punish everyone else whom they seem to believe is complicit in their decision. This shows how violence can cause a person to want to make others feel their pain and experience it with them.
Themes
On the third day, Sonia calls the kids upstairs one by one. Roland goes first, followed by Mai and Hayden, and they all return oddly quiet. Connor goes next. Upstairs, Sonia pulls out blank paper and instructs him to write a letter to someone he loves or whom he thinks needs to hear what he has to say. She leaves. Connor begins a letter to Ariana but scraps it and writes to his parents instead. His words flow quickly. He starts off angry but closes by telling his parents he loves them. Then he cries, and when he calms down, he seals and addresses the envelope and calls for Sonia. She asks him to write the date of his 18th birthday and says that if he doesn’t come back to claim it within a year of that date, she’ll mail it.
The letters that Sonia makes the Unwinds write allows her to expand her activism even further by letting these kids’ parents in on how they feel about the situation—something that will hopefully cause them to feel remorseful for what they did, but ideally not in a way that will lead to a repeat of Humphrey Dunfee. By doing this, Sonia hopefully creates a coalition of people who see firsthand how dehumanizing and unwinding is for the victims, and in an ideal world, will inspire those people to action.
Themes
Sonia opens the trunk. It’s filled with letters and almost brings Connor to tears. Sonia explains that if she dies, Hannah will take care of the letters. Connor says that Sonia is doing a great thing, but Sonia insists that she’s done horrible things. She says that people are both good and bad, but that she’s happy to be good right now. Risa hands Connor Didi when he gets downstairs and she heads up. Holding Didi is comforting and he thinks that if his soul had a form, it’d be a sleeping baby in his arms.
Sonia’s insistence that people are made up of good and bad begins to speak to the novel’s insistence that activism like this can help someone redeem themselves, while also suggesting that even those who support unwinding or are involved in the practice aren’t all horrific monsters. People, she suggests, aren’t that simple, and it’s important to look for the good as well as to recognize the bad.
Themes
