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 narrator says that nobody knows what goes through a clapper’s mind in the moments before they detonate. Whatever the thoughts are, they’re seductive lies. For those who believe that unwinding is called for in the Bible, their lie promises a reward. For those who believe they’ll change the world, their lie looks like a crowd smiling on them from the future. For clappers who are miserable, they believe they’ll be freed from their pain when others suffer. Clappers who desire vengeance feel that their act will balance the scales of justice. In all cases, when a clapper claps, the lie reveals itself and the clapper dies alone.
The narrator makes the point here that while a person may be able to talk themselves into clapping (or indeed, into any act of terrorism or violence) by insisting that they’re doing the right thing for some reason, all of that disappears as soon as the clapper has to reckon with the fact that, regardless, they’re going to die. They’re not going to see the world they believe they’re helping to create and indeed, they’re actually just causing terror, grief, and carnage.
Themes
Mai’s life has been full of disappointment, but she broke when her boyfriend died in the shipping crate from the warehouse to the Graveyard. Even worse was watching the Goldens bury him carelessly. She eventually shared what she saw with Cleaver, and he plotted their murder of the Goldens. Blaine drugged the Goldens, but Mai sealed the crate and reveled in how easy killing was. Inside the Chop Shop, Mai locks herself in a storage room and waits. She’ll let someone else go first. Blaine, meanwhile, waits in a hallway. He decided to not use his detonators since a “hardcore” clapper can detonate without them, and he wants to be hardcore like his brother was. He waits for someone else to go first.
When Mai’s boyfriend died in the crate, she, like Lev, realized that the world is extremely unfair. Her inability to deal with the loss and what she saw healthily suggests that had she been more emotionally literate, she could’ve made better choices. Again, that she’s motivated by grief allows the reader to sympathize with her, while learning that the Goldens didn’t respectfully bury the five kids who died suggests that by the same token, they weren’t all good.
Themes
Lev convinces the psychologist that he’s relaxed and calmly leaves. Outside, kids run to the red carpet and shout that the Akron AWOL is being unwound. Lev sees the keyboardist in the band wail as kids converge and begin to applaud. Lev realizes what’s going to happen and tries to scream for Connor. He makes it to the red carpet, but Connor enters the Chop Shop and the doors close. Lev looks up and sees that the keyboardist is Risa. Inside, a guard finds Blaine and shoots him with a tranquilizer. Blaine explodes immediately. Mai hears the explosion, tries not to think, and claps. It takes three tries. Risa notices Lev as the first explosion goes off. Dalton shouts that they need to leave, but the second explosion makes the band fall through the roof.
For Lev, realizing that Connor and Risa are going to die, or at least be seriously injured despite his efforts, impresses upon him that becoming a clapper wasn’t actually an effective way to either get his point across or care for the people he loves. Instead, his failure to effectively and healthily deal with his anger means that he causes irreparable damage to all of them. This is another groundbreaking moment for Lev, as it begins to show him that he chose the wrong path.
Themes
Lev watches the band fall. He feels like his world ended and he wants to make it all go away. He sticks the detonators onto his palms, thinking they look like the nail wounds in Christ’s hands. Lev studies his hands, but he can’t make himself clap. He feels like an even bigger failure. The crowd ignores Lev and points as Connor stumbles out of the Chop Shop. His right arm is mangled and he’s missing an eye. Kids shout that he blew up the Chop Shop and rioting kids overwhelm the guards. Connor can focus only on the pain and he collapses. Lev leans over him and presses his shirt onto Connor’s face. Another kid kneels down and shoots Connor with a tranquilizer.
Though the novel overwhelmingly shows that this kind of a riot isn’t an acceptable course of action, in this case, it’s not nearly as destructive since the rioting Unwinds are attacking those who would unwind them otherwise. When Lev turns to saving Connor instead of clapping and causing even more damage, it shows that he now understands that he doesn’t have to commit acts of terrorism to make a difference. Instead, he can help others.
Themes
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