Unwind

Unwind

by

Neal Shusterman

"There are many places you can go," Ariana tells him, "and a guy as smart as you has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen."

Connor isn't so sure, but looking into Ariana's eyes makes his doubts go away, if only for a moment. Her eyes are sweet violet with streaks of gray. She's such a slave to fashion-always getting the newest pigment injection the second it's in style. Connor was never into that. He always kept his eyes the color they came in. Brown. He never even got tattoos, like so many kids get these days when they're little. The only color on his skin is the tan it takes during the summer, but now, in November, that tan has long faded. He tries not to think about the fact that he'll never see the summer again. At least not as Connor Lassiter. He still can't believe that his life is being stolen from him at sixteen.

Commentary:

I find the very first paragraph of this book to be intriguing for many reasons. One of the first reasons being that it flips the idea of normalcy on it's head. In the world that Shusterman creates, the idea of actually looking the way that you were born is quite strange. Connor has plain "brown" eyes, while Ariana has had her eyes injected with the color "violet with streaks of gray." He also has no tattoo's, (common among kids) only a tan that he gets in the summer.  I believe that having Connor stand out as strange in this world, yet having him as sort of the "average Joe" in comparison to my own, allows me to connect with him as the main character and see this world through his eyes, even though the story is in third person.

This story also catches my attention because in the beginning of the story, I can only speculate why "his life is being stolen from him at sixteen." To me, I feel like the beginning is a puzzle and I am trying to figure out what the connection is between him no longer existing as "Connor Lassiter" and all of the trendy fads going on. When I dig a bit deeper and read carefully it makes me question who is "stealing" his life, and if that is the case why isn't he dead yet?And why did the author choose the world "steal" instead of killed, murdered, or something equally horrendous? If it wasn't his choice to no longer exist as himself, wouldn't it be fitting? When I first read the story it made me draw a parallel between this story and the movie, "The Stepford Wives." I felt that maybe he would become a sort of robot because he wasn't complying with the wishes of society. It made me think that he may not physically die, but maybe just his will and freedom.

The last thing that I find interesting about this opening paragraph is the emotional disconnect Ariana has toward Connor. "a guy as smart as you has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen." The beginning dialogue implies to me that Ariana clearly knows what is going to happen to her friend, and yet she is very nonchalant and matter-of-fact in talking about Connor's survival. This signals to me that either she doesn't really care for Connor as a close friend or that she is trying to distance herself from the situation so that she doesn't feel hurt. The paragraph also describes her as a "slave to fashion," and says that it is common place for "little kids" to have tattoos. I think the significance of this is to show that connecting with people on a genuine level no longer exists. If Ariana cares more about the color of her eyes than she does her friend, then Connor is in much bigger trouble then he realizes at this point. Having a tattoo as a child shows that the priorities of society have changed. It tells me that in this world,  things that have traditionally been seen as "individuality" are now conformity, and that without conformity there is no "true" acceptance of a human being. But despite Connor's horrible situation a simple look "into Ariana's eyes makes his doubts go away." Yes he notices the artificial beauty, but there is something else about Ariana that makes him feel better, which indicates that he is looking at the world a little deeper and not just on the surface. 

This strange, emotional bonding, unmodified person in an extremely artificial world makes you want to find out what happens next.