Unwind Essay example -- Literary Analysis

Once upon a time, I was a student ignorant of the issues plaguing our nation; issues such as abortion and a frightening scarcity of organ donors meant little to me, who was neither pregnant nor in need of replacement body parts. Today, I fortunately remain a simple witness to these scenarios rather than a participant, but I have certainly established a new perspective since reading Neal Shusterman’s Unwind several years ago. Unwind is a brilliant novel set in the near future following the United States’ second civil war, known as the Heartland War, in which the definition of human life was debated with fatal passion: when does life truly begin and when should it be legally permitted to end? Desperate for an end to the warfare, the factions united in the decision to forbid abortion prior to birth. Instead, children would be given the chance to become worthy of the lives they have been given, but between the ages of thirteen and eighteen they could be sent to â€Å"harvest camps,† where they would then be â€Å"unwound† and sold for little more than scraps to those in dire need of organ donations, a supposedly moral alternative to abortion. The tale follows three â€Å"Unwinds†Ã¢â‚¬â€Connor, Risa, and Lev—as they learn about their twisted society while attempting to escape their fates. The premise of Unwind is a thrill to any teenager who has ever either defied an authority, like Connor, or has ever felt unwanted, such as Risa. As a thirteen-year-old who had dabbled in a little of both from time to time, Unwind was a welcome glimpse into my own subconscious and a realization at how privileged my life has been. The world this novel constructs is a society quite similar to our own, yet its morals have been contaminated: certain lives are considered m... ...ricts, I can’t ignore the fact that districts such as mine, which has already lost so much of its funding, are in need of inexpensive ways to increase efficiency. Another technique implemented in Japan is the use of students as janitors: each day a group of students is assigned to clean their classroom. I believe that if the number of janitors in our schools must be reduced the students should play a part in keeping their environment tidy, be it out of goodwill or punishment. I see this as a great, economical opportunity to maintain the school’s image and promote service. The United States is a melting pot: we have built our country on the customs of many others. We cannot be afraid to revert to old tactics so long as they are successful. Other countries hold the key to success in the education system and the United States must be willing to take note.