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
The pawnbroker watches as Lev enters his shop one evening. Lev approaches the counter, pulls out the diamond bracelet, and asks how much he can get for it. He admits that he’s an Unwind, which is unusual. Usually Unwinds have elaborate stories, and the pawnbroker isn’t sure what to do with the truth. The pawnbroker refuses to do business, even when Lev asks for $500—the pawnbroker knows the bracelet is worth many times that. Lev points out that if the pawnbroker turns him in, the police will get the bracelet. Finally, the pawnbroker agrees to the deal and leads Lev to the safe in the back. Once the safe is open, Lev hits the pawnbroker over the head. The pawnbroker wakes hours later to see that Lev took the money in the safe but left the bracelet.
Lev’s hard dealing and ultimate violence with the pawnbroker makes it clear just how much he’s changed since Connor ripped him out of the car a month ago. It shows in particular that Lev believes that he has to turn to violence to get anything done, something that doesn’t bode well for Lev’s future. In this sense, he’s undergoing the exact opposite transformation as Connor: as Connor learns to be less violent and more cunning, Lev uses his cunning to inform his violence.
Themes
