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
Emby isn’t aware of everything swirling around him, as he does his best to keep his head down. Per the Admiral’s request, he arrives at the Admiral’s jet. There are two men in suits there, which terrifies Emby. The Admiral calls Emby by name and says that he’s special—and because of this, Emby is leaving. He’s going to meet someone who’s eager to meet him. Emby asks who it is, hopeful it’s one of his parents and that they’re not actually dead. The Admiral says it’s his ex-wife and Emby starts to panic and wheeze. He explains he has asthma and the Admiral asks one of the suited men to get Emby better medication. The man calls the Admiral “Admiral Dunfee,” which shocks Emby. After Emby is gone, the Admiral looks at Harlan’s picture. Many know Harlan as Humphrey Dunfee. The Admiral feels like he’s redeeming himself.
Discovering that the legend of Humphrey Dunfee is more or less a true story speaks to the way in which stories, just like people, can become increasingly wilder and out of touch, just as Lev transforms as he gets in deeper with the clappers. It also reflects how people see anything related to standing up to unwinding as fundamentally sinister (remember that the Dunfee parents supposedly kill the recipients of Humphrey’s organs).
Themes
