♫Unwind the finale♪

1.What was the author's purpose(s) in writing this book, and how can you tell? How well was this purpose achieved?
2.For what audience(s) is this book intended, and how can you tell? (In other words, for whom would you recommend this book?)
3.Pick a character that interested you and write about them in depth. You can also analyze a relationship between two different characters.

The book that my group is centered on is titled, Unwind by Neal Shusterman, a teen adventure in a dystopia of the world. The novel is mainly focused on how Connor, Risa, and Lev run away, escaping their fate of being Unwinds. As you read Unwind you will find Shusterman's style of writing awkward at first, but i found that it was written in such a way that kept me interested. Point of view changes from chapter to chapter, which, admittedly kept the story at a quick pace and less boring. At first the three strangers could hardly put up with each other, but as they spent time surviving with each other bonds were quickly formed. In a world where the dis-assembling of "unruly" teens is widely accepted how will this bunch manage to continue living? I would recommend this book to anyone who would put the time to reflect on what they read. I wouldn't want this book to be simply read over without taking it to heart.
Mr. Shusterman throws out so many messages/purposes in this book like there's no tomorrow.

"I was asking if unwinding kills you, or if it leaves you alive somehow. C'mon—it's not like we haven't thought about it." (...)
What do you think, Connor?" asks Hayden. "What hap­pens to your soul when you get unwound?"

If you don't know what unwinding is here is a link to a previous blog its the paragraph before first quote. The problem addressed here is what happens to you after you essentially die. The reasonable response to this question would be, "Only one way to find out" a bit extreme, but there is no other way to find it for sure. The factor of unwinding comes in now, if 99.44% of you is still alive/functioning are you alive? If you give an organ to another person (lets say part of your brain), then you die soon after, are you still alive within the other person? Shusterman wants you to really ponder about this subject, although it can scare the shit out of many people (myself included), it's a very good question that can make you truely explore your real feelings on life.

"...One thing you learn when you've lived as long as I have-people aren't all good, and people aren't all bad. We move in and out of darkness and light all of our lives. Right now, I'm pleased to be in the light."

Shusterman is trying to relay the commonly used message of not everything is completely black/evil or white/good, but rather a mixture of the two always changing, and never being equal. I don't really think about my own good to evil ratio often, and i think Shusterman is trying to get readers to pay attention and be more self aware of our actions.

This novel is directed, quite obviously, towards the teenage audience. First chapter of the book is about Connor's relationship with a girl, and how she screws him over. The age of the main characters are ranging from 13-17. I believe Shusterman created this book with how teens feel towards adults in mind. How adults feel as though teens are just stupid versions of themselves and need to be trained to be on the same level as them.

"...(After Risa convinces a lady to give her clothes and food for a "school activity")..."What can i say? I'm an artist," she says. "It's like playing the piano; you just have to know which keys to strike in people."

Risa obviously knows how to get her way with adults who think they are superior in intellect by being sly. Risa definitely is smarter then the average adult in any world. That being said, adults can still love this book and would also enjoy it just as much as a teen would. All of the things Shusterman writes about is applicable to both age groups. "Unwinding" and "storking" are very much real in our world, it is just not widely accepted by the public, yet.
People who have been adopted will really relate to Risa, since she grew up in a homestead and it is brought up how that has effected the her way of thinking. Another group of people who i think would enjoy-err, well OK maybe not enjoy, but really reflect on what the author is saying are people who have had transplants or donated part of their body. I know i would be thoroughly freaked out if i had the same conditions(read the book, no spoilers!!) Cy-Fi had. The whole thing makes me want to be an organ donor in case I'm ever in a life threatening car crash or something else that's fatal.

Lev, the youngest of the two, and the most religious of the little gang has been my person of interest. Lev is the tenth child and the religious law states that a family must give up 1/10 of its goods. Lev has been up for an Unwinding his whole life, and on his 13th birthday he has a great party to see him off.

"...He's had his entire life to prepare for this-it should have been enough. He knew he was a tithe from the time he was little..."Your life will be to serve God, and mankind." "

Lev has been taught his whole life that being a sacrifice is a honorary privilege and to be proud. He's been taught this from when he was so young that he knows its correct. This is where i believe Shusterman is telling us how we shove all of this "knowledge" down the throats of our own kids at such an early age, that we are training them to become what we want them to be, instead of letting them mature on their own and grow their own opinions.
Once Lev becomes kidnapped by Connor he immediately plots his escape, showing he is not completely dense. As he attempts his escape, in which he had several chances, he chose some very dense options. I see Lev as the authors way of speaking about humanity. It'll believe most of what the world tells it, until one day the one thing snaps us out of our mindless daze and we come to our senses. As Lev matures he becomes more violent and angry with the world. As humans become an older species we too are constantly developing weapons and numerous ways to hurt each other. Lev becomes a clapper, no turning back in his mind set. Lev knows what he is going to do and nothing will stop him. The determination we all have and as a whole species our determination is immense. All in all Lev eventually snaps out of his delusional trance and saves Connor from death. Perhaps humans as a species can still turn around. Perhaps our Connor is the Earth. We just keeping pushing it's limits until we finally take note that it just won't survive without our positive interference and/or stop messing with the Earth.
Could you imagine having to Unwind Mars and putting some its parts on to Earth? Pretty crazy but i think it would be hilarious...if it happens i want credit for thinking of it!

"Nice Shoes"