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Making the Unthinkable Seem Commonplace
What seems unthinkable becomes commonplace when described in the right way. In
Unwind, Neal Shusterman’s premise of parents dismantling their children is initially hard to
accept. He makes this world seem acceptable, even normal with the use of euphemisms.
One major message of this book is that euphemisms can be used as propaganda.
According to Merriam-Webster a euphemism is “a mild or pleasant word or phrase that is used
instead of one that is unpleasant or offensive.” People accept actions that they wouldn't normally
condone because the euphemisms soften the harsh realities.
There are many terms and phrases in the book that seem very neutral, nonthreatening and
almost positive. Unwanted teens are “unwound” (Shusterman 6), they are sent to “harvest
camps” (24) for unwinding. Instead of dying they continue on in a “divided state” (24). The state
home's lawyer scolds Risa when she refers to being unwound as dying, “Please, Mrs. Ward. It’s
not dying, and I’m sure everyone here would be more comfortable if you didn’t suggest
something so blatantly inflammatory. The fact is, 100% of you will still be alive, just in a divided
state” (23).
With unwinding defined as being terminated yet kept alive, society learns to look the
other way. “That’s what happens with unwinds… One day they just didn’t turn up, teachers
would say they were gone or no longer enrolled. Those were just code words, though. Everyone
knew what they meant” (94).
Teens scheduled to be unwound are sent to harvest camps where surgeons harvest every
part of the child - both externally and internally -and transplants the parts onto recipients,
ensuring the donors would live on, but in a different state. “Doesn’t it ever occur to you Unwinds
that you might be better off – happier even – in a divided state?”(257)
In sharp contrast to peaceful sounding harvesting camp discussed by parents and the
government (All things at Happy Jack [harvesting camp] are serene and gracious… [266]), the
kids themselves refer to the actual operating room where their bodies are surgically taken apart
as the “chop shop” (270). Not quite as soothing. “He tries to imagine himself stretched so thin
and so wide that he can reach around the world. He imagines his spirit like a web strung between
the thousand recipients of his hands, his eyes, the fragments of his brain— none of it under his
control anymore, all absorbed by the bodies and wills of others. Could consciousness exist like
that?” (158).
Aside from the major euphemisms, unwinding, harvesting and living in a divided state,
this whole society has learned to look at the world through tinted lenses. Even with the future
option of unwinding, not all parents are willing to raise their children. For these cases,
Shusterman developed the principle of storking where unwanted babies are left on the doorsteps
of strangers, and the storked family becomes responsible. This phrase is a take-off from the
phrase “visited by the stork” and sounds much more civilized than abandoned. “What a
wonderful family. They take in storked babies, and send their own flesh and blood to be
unwound. Oh, sorry - tithed” (72).
Shusterman also uses a number of other euphemisms as the new politically correct words
of this world. There are no more black and white people. “Umber” (122) is the new socially
acceptable way to describe someone who is African-American in contrast to “Sienna” (122), the
new way to describe Caucasians. “Better words. Didn’t have no value judgment to them. Of
course, it’s not like racism is gone completely…The veneer of civilization got itself a second
coat” (122).
Gays are now referred to as “yin families” (125). Even suicide-terrorists have a softersounding name. Militants who have replaced their blood with a nitroglycerin blend and blow
themselves up by clapping their hands are simply referred to as “Clappers” (5).
The basic concept of Unwind requires a suspension of disbelief. But is this world really
that far removed from our own where poor parents in third world countries sell their children into
prostitution to have money to feed the rest of their family or abandon their newborn daughters
because boys are preferred? The author seems to specifically avoid telling the reader what to
think.
By using euphemisms to mask the horror of their actions Shusterman is able to redefine
basic human values, including the sanctity of human life and the responsibilities of parents to
their children. Euphemisms help to paint the world in Unwind in shades of grey, not black and
white. “In a perfect world mothers would all want their babies, and strangers would open up
their homes to the unloved. In a perfect world everything would be either black or white, right or
wrong, and everyone would know the difference. But this isn't a perfect world. The problem is
people who think it is” (75).
Works Cited
“Euphemism” Def. 1. Merriam-Webster Online, Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 6 Jan 2015.
Shusterman, Neal. Unwind. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Print.