46 pages • 1 hour read
Gordon KormanUnplugged
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Leading Isolated Lives
At the beginning of the novel, Jett Baranov is focused solely on himself. He has no friends or pets and rarely sees his parents. To a great extent, he enjoys his solitary existence because he has the financial resources to indulge every whim that pops into his head. Coming to the Oasis forces him to participate in group activities, and Jett loathes getting involved. Ironically, looking after the baby lizard tricks him into caring about something beyond his own needs and desires. Although Jett is the most extreme example of a character who leads an isolated life, he is far from unique in this respect.
All the members of Team Lizard are isolated to some degree. For example, Brooklynne has created a form of self-imposed exile to avoid the attention that would ordinarily be paid to Magnus’s daughter. She wanders the grounds just to keep herself occupied but rarely engages in group activities and makes no friends among the younger campers. Like Jett, she gets drawn into caring about others through Needles.
Though less obvious than the other two members of Team Lizard, Grace has created a different form of isolation for herself. She is the most judgmental member of the group. Her notions of right and wrong are so clear-cut that no room is left for doubt. She idolizes Magnus and scorns anybody who doesn’t agree with her. Brooklynne instinctively tries to stay away from Grace, confessing that she always feels judged when in the latter’s presence. Grace is vocal in her criticism of those who fall short of her expectations and is particularly hard on her campmates when they succumb to the temptation to eat non-regulation food. Despite her abrasiveness, she also has a soft spot for Needles and tolerates the other members of Team Lizard for his sake.
Tyrell's version of isolation is more physical than emotional. Although he has a generous and kind nature that seems to welcome friendship, his various allergies create a wall that separates him from normal children who can eat anything and walk in the woods without breaking out in hives. Tyrell is also isolated because of his timid nature. Even though he admires Jett’s bravado, he has a hard time following where his reckless friend leads. His doubts and fears often cut him off from his fellow campmates. Once again, Needles acts as the catalyst to bring Tyrell out of himself for the sake of the baby reptile’s well-being.
The Value of Interdependence
Part of the reason why Magnus bans technology at the Oasis is so that the guests have a chance to connect to something other than a cell phone signal. Most of the activities at the retreat are geared toward building a sense of community. Even the pedal boats require two people working in unison to move them forward. As might be expected, Jett is highly resistant to group participation. He dislikes the idea of cooperating with anybody else. Matt points out in exasperation, “You know what your problem is, Jett? It’s always all about you. When it rains, does it even cross your mind that everybody else gets wet too?” (51).
While it might be easy to view Unplugged as one boy’s recognition of the value of interdependence, Jett isn’t the only person who learns that lesson in the novel. Grace is so busy judging everyone else’s shortcomings that she has elevated herself above them. Because she has no peers, it’s just as hard for her to cooperate as it is for Jett. Similarly, Brooklynne doesn’t trust anyone else because she wants to protect her secret identity from exposure. She is wary of everyone until a baby lizard draws her out of her self-imposed isolation. Tyrell is far more open to caring than the rest, but his fear of negative consequences also causes him to withdraw from risky experiences.
Each youngster has difficulty engaging with the rest of the group, but none of them has a problem engaging with Needles. Ironically, Needles doesn’t reciprocate. He simply wants to be fed. Perhaps the very directness of his primal need telegraphs a certain honesty about his motives. It overcomes the suspicions that the members of Team Lizard instinctively feel toward one another. In an attempt to meet the sole objective of keeping Needles alive, the four members of Team Lizard coalesce into a unit.
Each member offers some benefit or skill to help achieve their common goal. Grace initially saves and protects Needles. Brooklynne finds a safe hiding place and gives the group access to a boat. Jett figures out the kind of food Needles wants and learns where to source it. Tyrell takes over the daily maintenance chores of Needles’s habitat. Even though the four individuals only come together for the common purpose of saving a small lizard, they eventually rely on each other to get the job done. Ultimately, they learn to trust one another. In the book’s pivotal scene, they end up rescuing each other from danger. In the process, they all learn the value of interdependence.
When to Break the Rules
From the very beginning of the novel, we see that Jett is a natural-born rule breaker. While his outrageous behavior may be a cry for parental attention, his arrogance makes it hard to sympathize with his plight. He doesn’t believe that rules apply to him, and he delights in overturning them simply because they get in his way. Such an attitude sets up a natural antagonism between Jett and Grace, for the latter is the ultimate rule follower. Since Grace likes to think of herself as perfect, following the rules carries a certain level of self-congratulation for meeting everyone’s expectations. Grace sees the rules at the Oasis as necessary. They preserve the peace and harmony of her happiest place on earth. If the Oasis is paradise, then Jett is the snake in Grace’s Garden of Eden.
Tyrell parallels Grace to a lesser degree. While he admires Jett’s rebelliousness, he doesn’t have the nerve to emulate his new friend. He simply appreciates Jett’s bravado and only indulges in wrongdoing while trailing in Jett’s wake. Like Grace, Tyrell is a rule follower. Brooklynne parallels Jett by flouting the rules of the Oasis. However, she may have a better reason for doing so than Jett does. As the de facto princess of the establishment, she may be entitled to believe that the rules don’t apply to her. This is especially true since she doesn’t agree with some of Magnus’s ideas. In fact, her hidden cell phone is in direct violation of her father’s edict.
The climax of the book shows a radical reversal in the attitude toward rules that each character has exhibited since the beginning of the novel. Jett becomes obsessed with doing the right thing even when his friends think he’s crazy. An illegal alligator farm is against the law, and although Jett wouldn’t ordinarily care about legalities, he is angered by the thought of innocent animals being raised to be slaughtered. His connection with Needles gives him some sympathy for the plight of other members of the same species. Jett continues to break rules by trying to blow up the gates to the alligator farm, but in this instance, he breaks the rules for a good cause. Likewise, Grace overcomes her reverence for the rules when she and Tyrell go to rescue Jett. Timid Tyrell even hijacks a golf cart so he and Grace can ride to the rescue. Grace then detonates the explosives herself. This is an action that she would have considered unthinkable a few weeks earlier. Lastly, Brooklynne reveals her hidden cell phone, shocking both Magnus and Matt. However, she realizes that admitting this infraction of the rules may be the only way to save her friends. Ultimately, each person acts out of character to prove that breaking the rules is sometimes necessary in service to a good cause.
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