Final Unwind Book Post

I LOVED this book, it was so good and I highly recommend it! Today, we had our last lit circle discussion for this book and it was pretty fun because we all shared our amazement at all of the surprises and twists the author, Neal Shusterman, had in store for us at the end. One point that came up during our discussion that stood out to me was that Roland was much more of a brutal killer than Connor was.Now I agree with this statement but it was controversial for the simple fact Connor killed someone and Roland never did. But evidence supported by the book proved our point right.

Earlier in the book when Connor killed the bus driver. This was just a big freak accident because all he was doing was running from the Juvey cops, not purposely seeking out victims. Now, this was good too because the bus was full of Unwinds on their way to harvest camp and one of them was Risa. So this freak accident might have killed someone, but it also saved someone from getting unwound.
Roland on the other hand pushed Connor to start a fight with him so he could kill Connor. Also when they were in the warehouse and him & Connor were about to get pushed into the same cart group, Roland was going to kill Connor as soon as they got in it. He even made a knife to do it with! Towards the end of the book, Roland even choked Connor until he was unconscious, but stopped right before he would’ve died. Now if Roland was a psyco killer he would’ve killed Connor right there. He didn’t, therefore I think Roland just likes to see people suffer, he doesn’t have the guts to actually kill them himself. Which brings me to another point. Who’s more brave and bold, Connor or Roland?

I think Connor hands down because he actually follows through with his actions unlike Roland. Also when they Roland had to walk down the ‘red carpet’ to the ‘Chop Shop’, he through a fit!

“But...but I’ve only been her a few days....I need more time. Another day. That’s all. One more day. I’ll be ready tomorrow. I promise!” (pg.287)

Unlike Connor who took his supposedly last walk of life gracefully.

“Hands off me, I’ll walk by myself,” he orders the guards,...The first step is the hardest, but...he will take this last walk of his life in steady strides...’ (pg.304)

This shows how even though Roland acts all tough, when it comes to death he’s a scared puppy. Unlike Connor who mans up to reality.

Unwind Post #1

So far, this has been a very intriguing book. In our first lit circle discussion, my table mates and I brought up some very interesting points. We had different ideas on some of them and most were very logical.

One of the topics we discussed was the fact that Risa is a perfectionist. In the beginning of the book at her piano recital, she missed a few minor notes. Her coach said she did marvelous and that he was proud of her but Risa was being very hard on herself and calmly replied.

“I stunk up the stage.” (pg.21)

This quote helped support our point, but I made a conclusion from this statement. The fact that Risa is a perfectionist, allowed her, Lev, and Connor to make it this far without being caught. Risa doesn’t like making mistakes, so every time she makes one she practically freaks out and feels she has to do something to cover it up. That’s when her street smart instincts kick in.

A situation that exemplifies this is when her, Connor, and Lev are trying not to be recognized by the police by waiting at a school bus stop with other students. But then Connor overhears a little boy telling his mom that they’ve been storked (when a baby is left on your doorstep) again, and it reminds him of when his family was storked, but the baby died. Connor runs to their door, with the police still watching, because he thinks it’s the same baby.  The mother yells at him asking if he put the baby there. But Connor gets tongue-tied in shock of what he just did because he doesn’t think before he does things. Then Risa comes up behind him and says,

“He didn’t put it there. I did.”(pg.63)

Then Risa takes the baby when the lady threatens to call the cops over. Connor could’ve gotten them caught right then and there, and sent off to be unwound. The decisions he makes can get them killed, but Risa is a perfectionist so she knows how to cover up and take care of mistakes when they happen. In other words, she’s street smart.