Humphrey Dunfee - Janie

What did you think about the Admiral and his wife trying to put their son Harlan "back together" again? I thought it was a really interesting way to end the book, and I liked how it was progressively mentioned throughout the story. In the beginning, it was more of a creepy legend, but as the story progressed, we learned more and more about "Humphrey Dunfee" and why his parents were searching for him.


   "Like a water vapor crystallizing into the magnificent, unique form of a snowflake, the babble of voices coalesces into a single conversation . . . He looks at the crowd and says weakly, 'H-Harlan?'
   Every eye in the garden turns toward him. A man raises his hand to his throat, touching it gently, and says in a voice that is most definitely Harlan Dunfee's, just a bit older, 'Dad?'"


I honestly started to tear up at this part, and I thought it was really amazing that after all those years the Dunfees had finally put their son back together again.

Response to Part-Unwind or Death- Julia

Hmmmm this is a bit of a tricky question. First of all, I completely disagree with unwinding. I think that it is extremely immoral. However, I feel like if unwinding is still legal and they are still doing it, I might as well take the body parts. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me to not take it because the government is still going to continue unwinding, so I might as well not waste it. If I needed something, I would probably take it no matter how important it was (spine or arm). I guess I just feel that if the government is still unwinding, it won't make a difference whether I boycott it or not so I might as well. Is that selfish of me?

Part-Unwind or Death - Janie

In chapter 29, the unwinds are packed into crates of four. In Connor's crate, the conversation gets pretty intense as they talk about morals and souls. On page 169, Connor yells, "I'd rather die than get a piece of an Unwind!"

I know it would be a lot different if you were in this particular situation, as an unwind yourself, but if you were in a life-or-death situation, and the only way you could be cured would be to get a piece of an Unwind, which would you choose? Death or part-unwind?

I think it would depend on the parts. If it were, say, an arm, I would rather accept the part of the unwind. Or if I needed a new spine to walk again, I think I would take one from an unwind, rather than die or be paralyzed. But then at the same time, I don't think that unwinding is at all moral, so in my self-preservation, would I be advocating the act of unwinding?

Response to Sonia and the Love Letters- Julia

I completely agree with what you said about Sonia having a more effective way of protesting against unwinding. She may not be publicly making a big deal about her opposition, but she is making more of an impact on the actual unwinds. I also love what she does, making the kids write letters to their parents. If I were a parent of an unwind, I would love to receive a letter from my child, whether or not I was still glad that I had them unwound. I do think that the morals of unwinding would change if every single unwind got to write a letter. I bet that some of the unwinds would write such moving and heartbreaking letters to their parents that many parents would see the negative effects of unwinding and they would have more of an opposition against it.
I think that Risa and Connor probably did go back to get their letters, more out of respect for Sonia, since she did so much for them.

Sonia and the Love Letters - Janie

At the end of chapter 19, while Connor and Lisa are staying with Sonia in the antique shop, each of the unwinds writes a letter to someone they love. Sonia tells them "Fill it with everything you wished you could say, but never had the chance" (108). She tells him that if he survives to eighteen, he has to come and get it. If he doesn't, she'll assume he was unwound and will send the letter herself.

If every unwind got the chance to write a letter, not just the runaways, do you think the morals about whether or not unwinding is wrong would change? Do you think Connor and Risa ever went back to get their letters?

I love what Sonia does for these kids. It's not exactly an active rebellion or protest, but probably even more effective in that way. She's giving these kids something they never had: a voice; an opportunity to say how they really feel. It was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

Response to Parents- Julia

I think that there are probably a lot of parents who wished that they hadn't chosen to unwind their child. It's like the saying, "You didn't know what you had until it was gone." Or something like that. :) This is kind of what happened to the Admiral. He and his wife realized that they didn't want to unwind their son, only they decided this after he was already unwound. I thought that the party/gathering that they had to remember him with all of his body part recipients was really bittersweet. "There will be no surgeries here, in spite of the rumors, rebuilding Harlan piece by piece was never the plan. But the Dunfrees are putting their son together in the only meaningful way they can." (Shusterman 331). I think that this is so sad, especially when the Admiral hears his son's voice. But I think that the entire point of this part of the story is to show that parents did miss their children after they were unwound, and this is helping the adult population realize that unwinding isn't such a great idea.

Parents - Janie

Once a parent signs the order to get his child unwound, there is no turning back. However, if a parent does change his mind, and it is too late, how do you think the parent would feel?


"It had never occurred to Connor to consider the toll unwinding had on the ones who signed the order. He never thought he could have sympathy for a parent who could do that - or sympathy for one of the men who had made unwinding possible" (225).


I cannot imagine the guilt a parent would have after turning in their own child, then realizing that he or she wasn't really that bad after all. Do you think teens would behave more if unwinding was brought into society? Do you think it could be an effective threat, kind of like how parents threaten their children with coal for Christmas if they are naughty? Or would teens act generally the same?

Chapter 61 Reply - Janie

I agree with your thoughts on this chapter. It really freaked me out, and I would have never guessed Shusterman would actually describe the unwinding process from the point of view of the person being unwound. It was really ominous and creepy, but so amazing as well.


What bothered me most was that once they told him he would feel a "tingling in his scalp" (292), they just stopeed talking to him as if he were completely gone. To be able to hear whats going on around you, but not being able to feel aware of yourself would be an extremely terrifying experience.

Chapter 61- Julia

What did you think of Chapter 61? This was the chapter that described Roland's unwinding in complete detail. To be perfectly honest, it really disturbed me. I think that it would be awful to be concious during this entire process. I understand that you have to be concious by law, and it doesn't hurt or anything, but it would be awful to slowly see your body disappear. I think Roland was actually very brave for not freaking out very much. If I were being unwound, I would be going absolutely berserk! I did think that it was considerate to have a nurse there to hold your hand, and talk and comfort you while you are being unwound. It seems like she really gave Roland peace of mind as he was slowly being ripped apart. So anyway, what were your thoughts on this chapter?

Response to Baby Storking- Julia

I don't really think that storking or abortions is the right thing to do. Both ways are not helping the babies whatsoever. I think that when the government in Unwind came up with the idea of storking they justified it with the idea that it was somehow better than abortions because the baby wasn't being killed. However, in some cases it is nearly as ineffective. The whole 'finders keepers' attitude is not a good idea for the babies. What if an abusive family gets a baby on their doorstep? What if a family that cannot afford another child gets a baby on their doorstep? What if a family that doesn't want another child gets a baby on their doorstep? This baby is going to grow up with a family that probably does not love him/her as much because they were given the child unwillingly. This situation happened to Connor's family in Unwind.

"See, there were already two natural kids in the family. My parents weren't planning any more. Anyway, this baby shows up at our door, my parents start freaking out... and then they have an idea." ... "It was early in the morning, and my parents figured no one saw the baby left at the door, right? So the next morning, before the rest of us got up, my dad put the baby on the doorstep across the street." ... "It turns out that the baby had been passed around the neighborhood for two whole weeks- each morning, left on someone else's doorstep... only now it's not looking too good." (Shusterman 73-74)

And so, you know what happens next. The baby dies. Which is awful. Storking is not fair for babies, or for parents who have already had as many children as they want to. Really the only people that storking benefits is the pregnant mothers who do not want the responsibilty of a baby. And that is why there is such a thing as birth control. However, I am not saying that abortion is the right answer either. I personally don't think either of those options are the way to go. I think that birth control and adoption are the right things to do. This brings up another question that I have. Did they not have birth control during this time? And if they did, why did they not use it? So, sorry if I did not really answer your question, I was just getting my thoughts out about this subject.

Baby Storking - Janie

In Unwind, The Bill of Life had a law in it called the "Storking Initiative." This allowed young girls to give up their children after they were born, if they were incapable of raising a child or weren't ready to be mothers. It was almost like an abortion substitute; the babies were just given up after birth as opposed to before.

The law seemed quite childish in a way; the idea of "finder's keepers" where you had to keep the baby if you found it, the idea of keeping the baby if someone caught you delivering it, etc. The Bill of Life was meant to protect life, using well-chosen words such as "in a divided state" instead of "dead", but do you think it actually had the desired effect?

"Funny, but the bill of life was supposed to protect the sanctity of life. Instead it just made life cheap. Thank goodness for the Storking Initiative, that wonderful law that allows girls like her a far better alternative" (53).

If not for the Stroking Initiative, babies would be ending up in dumpsters, which isn't better than abortion. And of course, the Bill of Life had the purpose of getting rid of abortion for a "more civilized" alternative. Do you think the idea of pushing storking rather than permitting abortion is a better idea than what we have in society today?

I'm having a difficult time deciding, because if you remember the story about the baby that circulated the porches in Connor's neighborhood, storking isn't always effective. (see page 73 for a recap of that story) However, if abortion was kept legal, the Bill of Life would be moot and the Pro-lifes and the Pro choices would still be fighting. Even if there was a law that you had to keep your baby until it reached the age of thirteen, there would probably be no way that law would be upheld and unwanted babies would just be thrown into dumpsters.

I know I asked some really tough questions, but I just thought it would be an interesting thing to analyze. Your thoughts? (:

Response to Clapper Response- Julia

Yes, now that I have reread some of the quotes about clappers, I realize that Neal Shusterman was giving information about what a clapper is throughout parts of the book, albeit not with very much detail. I didn't really understand the significance of the random clapper information Shusterman was supplying until the very end of the book and then I was like, "Ohhhhh I understand why he was talking about that before!" Up until the end, when I figured out why the clappers were important, I thought that it was rather  strange as to why he kept mentioning the clappers. I mean, I could understand him mentioning it once, but it was confusing me as to why he kept bringing it up. That is, until the end of the book. Once again, I loved Shusterman's writing style of giving so many details from so many different points of view. :)

Clappers Response - Janie

I think that the point of making the identity of the clappers unknown until the end was to keep readers interested. Neal Shusterman didn't want his readers to understand what was really going on with the clappers until they were actually revealed, which is why they were cleverly inserted into the book early on:

   "'Start clapping!'
   'What?'
   'Start clapping. Trust me!'
   A single nod from Connor makes it clear that he gets it, and he begins bringing his hands together, slowly at first, then more and more quickly. She does the same, both of them applauding as if they were at a concert cheering for their favorite band.
   And beside them, a student drops his backpack and stares at them in utter horror.
   'Clappers!' he screams
   In an instant, the word is out.
   ClappersClappersClappers . . .
  It echoes in the kids around them. In an instant it reaches critical mass, and the entire crowd is in full-blown panic." (88)

And then a few pages later, Shusterman actually explains what a clapper is, but not in clear detail.

"The threat of clappers is so effective because no one really knows what they stand for." (90)

   "The old woman looks at them suspiciously. 'Does this have anything to do with that fiasco over at the high school? Are you clappers?'
   'Do we look like clappers to you?' says Connor.
   The woman narrows her eyes at him. 'Nobody looks like a clapper.'
   Connor narrows his gaze to match hers, then goes over to the wall. He holds up his hand an jabs it forward with all his might, punching the wall hard enough to bruise his knuckles. A little painting of a fruit bowl falls off the wall. Connor catches it before it hits the ground and sets it on the counter.
   'See?' He says. 'My blood isn't explosive. If I was a clapper, this whole shop would be gone.'" (92)

The key phrase being "My blood isn't explosive", this shows that Shusterman does tell his reader what a clapper is, but I think he could have done a better job of it. I was really confused as well until Mai and Blaine are in position to detonate themselves.

Lev does become a clapper for a reason, though, and on page 229, when Lev has his first meeting with Cleaver, Mai, and Blaine:

   "'How much do you hate [the people that were going to unwind you]?' Cleaver asks again.
   'Totally and completely.'
   'And how much do youi want to make them, and everyone else in the world, pay?'
   'Totally and completely.' Someone has to pay for the unfairness of it all. Everyone has to pay. He'll make them."

You see, Lev had almost been hardened by all he had been through after he left Connor and Risa. He recognized the unfairness of it all, not in just Unwinding itself, but in how angry it makes him, and how his parents actually made him want to be unwound.

Clappers - Julia

I also found clappers to be very interesting. It took me a very long time to figure out exactly what a clapper was, in fact, I really didn't understand was a clapper was until the very end of the book.


"... Levi Jedidiah Calder is held in a cell designed for his very specific needs. The cell is padded. There is a steel blast door three inches thick. The room is kept at a constant forty-five degrees Fahrenheit to keep Lev's body temperature from rising too high. Lev is not cold, though- in fact he's hot. He's hot because he's wrapped in layer after layer of fire-resistent insulation. He looks like a mummy, suspended in midair- but unlike a mummy, his hands aren't crossed over his chest, they're held out to each side and lashed to a crossbeam so he cannot bring his hands together. The way Lev sees it, they didn't know whether to crucify him or mummify him, so they did both. This way, he can't clap, he can't fall, he can't inadvertently detonate himself- and if for some reason he does, the cell is designed to withstand the blast." (Shusterman 323)


This is when I really realized what a clapper was, it is a person who has some sort of explosive within his or her body, running through their blood. They set themselves off by clapping their hands together. Then they explode, killing themselves and others. I think that you can compare them to the suicide bombers you here about in Iraq. The main difference is that the suicide bombers have external explosives, whereas the clappers explosives are internal. It really surprised me that Lev was a clapper. He seemed so nice, why did he want to kill himself and others? It must have just been the circumstances. He figured this was actually helping people. Which it did, actually. His two "co-partners" clapped and blew up the Chop Shop, saving many people, including Connor from being unwound. I was glad that Lev didn't clap and die, though. He helped people instead, and became somewhat of a hero.

Response to CyFi Response- Julia

I completely agree with what you said about Shusterman. He has this amazing ability to keep the reader on the edge of their seats. You never knew when he was going to give another key part to what an Unwind was. I think part of the way that he did this was because he had so many different points of view. You would get a glimpse of Connor's point of view and then you would get Risa's, or Lev's, or Roland's, or anyone. You would just get all of these different points of view, all in the end adding up to make one complete whole truth as to what an Unwind is and how it all works. I absolutely loved how Shusterman wrote this. It isn't classified as a mystery, it is classified as sci-fi, I believe, but I think that it has many elements of the mystery genre. The entire story is like a puzzle where these kids are trying to figure out how the Unwinding process works, and how to avoid becoming an Unwind. If anybody else had written this story with the same plot, I don't really think that it would have seemed like a mystery, but Neal Shusterman's writing style turned it into a mystery-like story.

CyFi Response - Janie

You are absolutely right, the CyFi stuff was completely mind-blowing. I found it amazing that his 1/8 Unwind brain could actually control him at times, if Cy wasn't watching out. For example, in the Christmas store when CyFi gets a sort of maniacal urge to steal something, and is no longer himself. He doesn't have his "old-umber" accent and keeps talking about his mother. When he steals the bauble, I think I actually gasped, because this lightbulb went over my head, like "CyFi has an Unwind's brain!"


"The woman turns to look across the store, and the moment she does, Cy picks a dangling gold bauble from a glittering tree and slip it in his coat pocket." (132)


Shusterman has this amazing talent of keeping readers on the edges of their seats, with new surprises and little Unwind-unveilings at every turn. It's completely captivating to think of what it would be like to have someone else in your head, someone else's wheels turning when you see something that would otherwise have no connection to you.

CyFi - Julia

Next I am going to write about CyFi because I found him to be very interesting in Unwind. His situation in the book is very unique and fascinating.


"'It's a he,' Cy saiys. 'I don't know his name. He musta kept his name in another part of his brain. All I got was his right temporal lobe. That's only an eighth of the cerebral cortex, so I'm seven-eighths me, and one-eighth him... He's not a bad kid. He's just hurting. Hurting real bad. He's got this urge to grab things- like an addiction, y'know? Shiny things mostly. It's not that he really wants them, it's just that he kind of needs to snap 'em up. I figure he's a kleptomaniac. That means... ah, hell, you know what it means.' 'So, he talks to you?' 'No, not really. I didn't get the part of him that uses words. I get feelings mostly. Sometimes images, but usually just feelings.'" (Shusterman 137-138)


I thought this part was especially interesting. It gave an opposite sort of side to what happens to an Unwind, the true explanation as to how they aren't "dead." This part continued to get climactic as CyFi went back to Joplin, and then to the kid's house to see his parents. This part was rather creepy to me. I couldn't stop imagining if this was me, and I had part of someone else's brain and they could control some of me. This would be awful and scary, which is exactly how CyFi was feeling. I'm surprised that something like this hadn't happened before, and the government hadn't had some way to control this so it didn't happen to someone else. I just found this part of the book completely fascinating, mostly because I just kept on imagining what it would be like if somebody could control some of my brain too, and what would happen if they could. I thought that Neal Shusterman did a great job of putting this into the book, because it wasn't really necessary or a key part to the book, but it added so much and gave another side to the Unwinding mystery that was taking place.

Response - Janie

   Schusterman actually does explain how unwinding came about, in Connor's first meeting with the Admiral. (see page 223) In summary, the Heartland War was being fought over the conflict of Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice (the American military was involved as well, though as more of a neutral party). Things were already being turned upside-down, morals being twisted and disregarded with "...People were murdering abortion doctors to protect the right to life, while on the other side, people were getting pregnant just to sell their fetal tissue." (223)

   The idea of unwinding probably didn't sound near as crazy as it does to us, because madness was already ensuing. When they made the Bill of Life, I thought it was interesting how the Admiral said it was just a joke in the beginning, until a scientist perfected the use of neurografting (the technique of allowing every part of a donor to be used in a transplant).


"With the war getting worse, we brokered a peace by bringing both sides to the table. Then we proposed the idea of unwinding, which would terminate unwanteds without actually ending their lives, We thought it would shock both sides into seeing reason - that they would stare at each other across the table and someone would blink. But nobdy blinked. . . Everone was so happy to end the war, no one cared about the consequences." (224)


   I think it's very interesting to see that initially the idea of unwinding was to be so ridiculous and extreme that both sides would realize how foolish they were acting. But it didn't, and unwinding came about. So you see, there couldn't have been an outrage at the idea of this process, becaue that would have meant that the war needed to continue.

   You are probably correct, since today we are not in a terrible war between the Pro-Lifes and Pro-Choices, there would be an uproar at the idea of something so immoral and obscure.

What I Wish We Knew About Unwinding - Julia

After much thought about what my first post should be, I have decided to make it about what I wish we knew about unwinding in general. I think that it is such a fascinating idea. I certainly don't agree with it, but it is such a different concept from anything in today's world that it is fascinating to me. I wish that Neal Shusterman had written more about how unwinding started. I have to imagine that it began because of overpopulation. There doesn't appear to be any birth control, since teenagers/adults are having babies left and right. When the procedure of taking apart every aspect of the human body and using it for other people was invented, this probably came along with the justification that it is okay, because other lives are being saved because of this process. I find it slightly hard to believe that there is not a large group of people against unwinding. If this process were to take effect tomorrow, I think that there would be a huge uproar against it, and not just from teenagers age 13-18. There has to be more of a story to how unwinding all started.