UNWIND The Cover and the Blurb

Examining the Cover

Must Do Questions:

Looking at the original cover to the right,
answer the following questions,
remember to explain why you think that
for each answer:

• How do you think this story will be written? Judging by the text in the top left corner of the page stating 'Before there was The Hunger Games there was...', I think the language used in this book will be similar to most dystopian literature. By this I mean the Point of View will most likely be in third person, only talking about one specific characters thoughts and actions at a time.

• Why do you think the story is entitled as it is? As I have already read the blurb on the back of the book, it is of my understanding that the term 'Unwind' is the word for an execution of sorts, or more accurately a word for human euthanasia.

• Where do you think the story will take place? Considering other dystopian films and books such as The Hunger Games, Ender's Game and The Giver all take place in the future, I'd say that's when it will take place. I'm not too sure whereabouts it will take place though. Perhaps America.

• What time period do you think the story is set in? As I said before I think it will be set in the future like books and movies of this genre or similar to this genre usually are.

Exploring the Blurb

Unwind blurb

The process by which a child is both terminated and kept alive is called 'unwinding'. Unwinding is now common, and accepted practice in society.

In the not-too-distant future, teens Connor, Risa, and Lev are on the run for their lives. Following the Second Civil War, between pro-choice and pro-life forces, the United States now allows parents to unwind their unwanted and difficult kids between the ages of thirteen and eighteen: Their bodies are surgically taken apart and all the organs and tissue are used in other people. According to the law, the kids aren't considered dead, they're "living in a divided state." But Connor, Risa, and Lev, and thousands of other teens slated for "unwinding", don't see it that way. They choose instead to "kick AWOL," or run away. Unwind follows these three across the country as they travel together, split up, and meet again when their destinies cross in a Harvest Camp where they are slated to be unwound.

1. What do you already know about pro-life and pro-choice groups? What do these terms mean? Is it an issue you have thought about? I know that people who are pro-life are people who are against abortion and euthanasia, and pro-choice is supporting the idea that woman have the right to decide whether or not they get an abortion. If you look at it from both perspectives, both pro-life and pro-choice groups have understandable points.

2. What do you know about organ donation?  I know it's the process of giving your organs to someone who is in need of them. When you get a license, I know you can choose whether you're going to be a donor or not, meaning if you were a donor, and you were to die, your organs would be donated to people who need them. For example if someone needed a heart transplant, or someone who only has one kidney's other kidney fails, or if someone needed something like a bone marrow transplant.

3. Teenagers to be unwound are sent to Harvest Camps. Can you make a connection between the language used to describe this place, and other places people have been sent historically?  Until reading this question I haven't even thought about this connection, but by the way harvest camps are described, they do seem very similar to concentration camps and death camps, the first of which was established in 1933 near Munich.

4. What religious connotation does the word 'harvest' evoke?

I'm not religious, and I don't know an awful lot about religion, but after a bit of

research I found that the symbolic meaning of the word harvest in scripture focuses on two main

points which are God's provision and God's blessing for others.

5. The term "living in a divided state" here is really a euphemism for what? Can you think of other, common euphemisms? Why do people use euphemisms? The euphemism 'living in a divided state' means they've been unwound. Disassembled. Cut up into tiny pieces. Donated. They're dead. Other common euphemisms referring to death include; carked it, passed away, six feet under, no longer with us, etc etc. I feel like people use euphemisms (when it comes to things liked death at least) because in some ways, using slang or an alternative phrases makes it easier to say. Euphemisms for other things could also be used to sound less rude or offensive.

6. What is the definition of legal?  If something is legal, it is permitted by law, meaning you're legally allowed to do it. Whether you should or not is another story

7. What about ethical? Ethics and the word ethical relate to someone's principles and moral values. If something is ethical it means it is right in a moral sense. Another example of the word ethical; if you're in a situation and you aren't sure what to do, you're having an ethical dilemma.

8. Do you believe that because something is legal, it is also ethical, or morally right? No. I believe there are a number of things that are legal that are morally and ethically wrong. However, there are also a number of things that are illegal that in my opinion shouldn't be, not so much in New Zealand, but in other countries.

9. Can things that are ethically sound ever be illegal? Provide examples. Yes, for example, until very recently, it was illegal in Saudi Arabia for women to drive. Same-sex marriage, and Homosexuality in general, is illegal in over 73 countries. And yet, you look at America's gun laws. It's entirely legal in California, Illinois, New York, and South Carolina to openly carry a handgun around in public. It's illegal to love who you want to love, but by all means feel free to carry a deadly weapon around where ever you go.

10. Can you think of examples in history to support your ideas? Provide examples

• Women's Suffrage: Up until 1893, no women anywhere in the World had the right to vote. New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote. The United States of America didn't give women the right to vote until 1920, and it only became legal in Saudi Arabia in 2011. I know it kind of sounds like I'm having a dig at America and Saudi Arabia, but that's because I am.
• Slavery: Denmark was the first country to abolish slavery in 1792, however it was also one of the first to permit it so that isn't saying much. The slaves in the West Indies also weren't actually liberated until 1848, which was 15 years after Britain put an end to it. And then- not to make America look like jerks or anything- there's America. The American Civil War, 1861-1865. A war fought between the United states and the confederate states. With out going to far in to detail, in a nutshell the United States thought it was wrong of the Southern states to leave the union, so they initiated a war that went on for four years. In the end, the United States defeated the confederate states in 1865, in the process also abolishing slavery in the USA. Not to be that person. But... Yes, America put an end to slavery in their country, but they also acted (and some- not all- still do) like the African American people should be extremely thankful. Which... they shouldn't, and they don't owe America anything considering they were the ones who enslaved them in the first place. Just saying. However, they weren't the last country make slavery illegal so that's something. That would be Mauritania, who didn't abolish slavery until 1981. Wow.
• Mass shootings: In 2018 alone, there was a total of 307 mass shootings in the United States. Need I say anymore? Change your gun laws
• Atheism: No where near as horrendous as some of these other laws and events, but after a bit of research, I also found that it is punishable by death to be an atheist in 13 countries. So that isn't great news for me...
• Stand Your Ground: Lets not forget (Sorry America) the 'Stand Your Ground' law. This law allows you to 'take action' if you feel even slightly threatened, even if it involves lethal force, and the need for lethal force could've been easily avoided. The 'Stand Your Ground' law has been legislatively adopted in the following states: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.
  
• The Nuremberg Laws: The Nuremberg Laws were a set of extremely antisemitic and racial laws in Nazi Germany. Not only did these laws forbid marriage between Jews and Germans and forbade the unemployment of German women under the age of 45 in Jewish households, but it also included the Reich Citizenship Law, stating only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich Citizens, meaning the Jewish people had no citizenship rights, and were merely classed as state subjects. Of course, these laws were nothing compared to the horrific events these innocent people were about to face.

In the present: Even today, there are a number of things that are illegal that shouldn't be. Here is a small list

• Taking a child away from an abusive parent or family when you aren't directly related to the child being abused.
• Seeing someone in hospital who is in critical condition who you care about but aren't related to.
• (In some places) Allowing a teenage girl an abortion even when it could be saving her life and stopping her future child from suffering.

It isn't just these laws and events that should never have happened, and should either have been illegal but weren't, or shouldn't have been illegal but were. There are so, so, so many, and the fact that to this day some of these things are still illegal/legal is frightening.