UNWIND Abandonment and Morality

Abandonment

Definition: the act of abandoning someone or something (leaving someone or something)

 Abandonment is a reasonably large and reoccurring theme in the book 'Unwind'. By parents signing the forms to unwind their children, they are also abandoning them, and all responsibilities they have for their child, such as looking after them and making sure they are healthy, happy, and safe.

Connor, Risa, and Roland are all characters who have experienced abandonment on a slightly higher level. Connor was not only abandoned by his family, but also abandoned by his girlfriend Ariana, who promised to stick by him and go with him when he went AWOL (ran away to avoid being inevitably killed).

Risa was abandoned by her State Home, her headmaster, and all the others who were in charge of keeping her safe and giving her a home. They showed her how little they thought of her by signing the Unwind papers, and all because of 'budget cuts'.

Roland's situation is the worst out of all three characters in my opinion. It almost makes you feel sorry for him. Almost. When his stepdad hit (more like beat up) Roland'd mother, Roland stood up for her and hurt his stepdad in revenge. And yet, his mother took her husband's side, her husband getting a warning, and Roland being sent to get unwound.

Morality 

Definition: Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour

Who has the right to take another person's life, and decide who deserves to live and who deserves to die?

The value of human life, what's right vs what's wrong, who has the right to take another's life.

These are all part of one giant theme, the most important and easily recognisable theme in the story- morality. Unwind is based on right vs wrong. For example, the Heartland War -the war which resulted in unwinding becoming a legal and mostly socially acceptable way of getting rid of unwanted children. The Heartland war was a war between pro-life and pro-choice. The pro life side of the war consisted of people who believed abortion is wrong, and pro choice is the side which believed that woman should be able to make that choice for themselves.

Risa encounters a situation which raises this question. Does her headmaster have the right to decide who gets to live, and who's life is more valuable based on their skillset? I don't think he does. I don't think anyone does. Or Connor, for instance- should his parents have the ability, and do they have the right to make the choice to kill their son? And finally, Lev. His parents pushed the belief that he was born to die onto him to such an extent, and at such a young age, that he began to believe it. Do his parents, or his church, or even whatever higher power he believes in have the right to say he doesn't deserve to live? No.