UnWholly

“She would be tithed and would experience the glorious mystery of having a divided body and a networked soul.”

Miracolina uses religious language to describe being unwound. Rather than consider the violent process of unwinding (described in detail in Book 1 of the Unwind series), she sticks to esoteric euphemisms. Until Lev is able to convince her otherwise, Miracolina believes that being tithed is the only way she can help others and positively impact the world.

“His conscience doesn’t bother him. What bothers him are their eyes.”

This passage is about Nelson, an adult character whose point of view is shown by Shusterman in UnWholly. Nelson’s transition from Juvey-cop to parts pirate could be considered progressing further into immorality. Nelson channels any feelings he might have about his increasingly unethical actions into a symbolic sensory organ—eyes. The title of Part 3, Windows of the Soul, references this symbolic redirection and repression.

“‘Do you know all their names?’ ‘Do you dream their dreams’ ‘Do you feel their unwindings?’”

This passage comes from Cam’s first press conference. Reporters ask Cam these questions about the 99 unwound teens whose parts he is made of. What is really being questioned is Cam’s humanity as the first rewound person, as well as the ethical implications of unwinding. If the public decides Cam is a monster, the act of unwinding itself being monstrous comes into focus.

“The Levi Calder he had been on the day he was sent to be tithed no longer existed.”

As the second book of the Unwind series, UnWholly introduces new characters whose opinions and actions resemble those of characters in the first book. The characterization of Levi Calder on the day of his tithing (which occurred in the first book) resembles the characterization of Miracolina in UnWholly. However, the old Levi Calder has distinct differences from Miracolina, especially in that he became a clapper, and that character changed radically in order to become Lev.

“Promise me you won’t go into some black-hole brooding funk where you sit and do nothing but play video games for a week.”

This passage is a quote from Lev’s brother, Marcus, shortly before he is severely injured by a clapper. When Lev receives a coded letter from Connor, Marcus worries that he will respond to it by acting like a moody teen. This speaks to the theme of the limits of adolescence; Lev and the other AWOL teens are hindered by hormones and inexperience in their quest to end unwinding.

“Once you get wound in with bad people, the unwinding never ends.”

This is a comment by a nurse to Lev after a clapper exploded in his brother’s house. Throughout UnWholly, characters use phrasing that is ironic or inappropriate in regard to unwinding. Idioms from a pre-unwinding era scan differently after the Unwind Accord.

“He’s encouraged by Cavenaugh and the staff to write his memoirs, which feels like an absurd request of a fourteen-year-old.”

When Lev is taken to the Cavenaugh mansion to assist in their mission of rescuing tithes, they treat him as a spiritual figure. This quote highlights a moment when a teen is put in a position for which they may not be ready or qualified. Lev’s interpersonal dynamic with the tithe rescue staff develops the theme of the limitations of adolescence.

“When you live a life without questions, you’re unprepared for the questions when they come.”

One way Lev gets through to Miracolina is to resist being baited by her loaded questions. She insults him, and he is able to respond with empathetic remarks about his transformation from tithe to clapper, and from clapper to nonviolent freedom fighter. This is a moment where Lev begins to get through to Miracolina. He causes her to question her hatred of him.

“He’s still never been on a date.”

This quote is about Lev. Like the other teens in the novel, Lev is romantically inexperienced. Rather than being able to have experiences like awkward dates, the teens who become AWOLs have to fight for their continued existence. Tithes’ emotional growth is stunted by their parents preventing them from experiencing events that defined adolescence for previous generations; they are expected to be unwound, not to develop intimate connections to other people.

“I shouldn’t be some sort of god-thing. I shouldn’t be put on a pedestal.”

This passage is the moment that Lev confronts Cavenaugh about the use of his image in a spiritual context. Lev vandalized the painting of himself that Cavenaugh commissioned and is upset that Cavenaugh immediately had it cleaned and restored. Lev would rather be seen as a flawed human than as a sanitized, saintly figure—being recognized as a human with the right to existence is part of the fight for Whollie liberation.

“She did it for him just as much as she did it for the injured boy, because as painful as it is to admit, Risa knows she had become just a distraction to Connor.”

Risa’s romantic relationship with Connor is plagued by a lack of communication. Connor is keeping his distance from Risa because he is afraid that his transplanted arm that came from someone who attempted to rape Risa in Book 1 will try to hurt her again. However, Connor being unable to tell Risa this fact causes her to believe that she is distracting Connor from the important work of Whollie liberation. Turning herself in causes Connor to become incredibly distracted by anger, rather than solving the problem that Risa imagined was there, which is an example of dramatic irony.

“Roberta and her friends at Proactive Citizenry have cooked up a first-class advertising campaign [...] Striptease.”

After Cam’s disastrous first press conference, a new approach is taken: They will show photographs of bits and pieces of him, slowly revealing more and more until he appears in person for an interview again. Cam describes this campaign as a form of sex work. This is echoed in Risa’s remark that Roberta’s demands of her make her feel like she is “prostituting herself” (281). Roberta is selling Cam’s looks and Risa’s physical transformation, and her use of bodies in publicity is tied to the theme of the economics of teen bodies.

“Lord, if what I’m doing is wrong, then by all means strike me down. Otherwise set me free.”

When Miracolina escapes from the Cavenaugh mansion, she prays for a sign that she is doing the right thing. God does not strike her down, but Lev—whom Cavenaugh has cast as a saint—intervenes and escapes with Miracolina. This develops the religious imagery that appears throughout the text by posing the idea that Lev and Miracolina are divinely fated to be together or at least aid each other in some way.

“The man with Proactive Citizenry said that unwinding was at the core of the country’s way of life.”

In this passage, Connor reflects on the role of unwinding in society. Trace repeating the words of a Proactive Citizenry employee, and then Connor replaying those words in his mind, emphasizes the theme of the economic uses of teen bodies. This repetition gives the reader a sense of not only what drives Connor to learn about the recent past, but also what drives the commerce and industry of Shusterman’s dystopian world.

“The nation was tearing itself apart over pro-life and pro-choice but completely ignored the problems of the kids who were already here.”

When Connor and Hayden research the events leading up to the Heartland War, they learn about how teens were underserved and neglected. This passage is one that could appear in a work of realist 21st-century fiction. Shusterman’s dystopian world looks at how the real-world fight for reproductive rights could end, if the technology surrounding organ transplants advanced faster than society’s concerns for teen’s quality of life.

“‘Going out like that was stupid.’ ‘It was human.’”

After Cam learns that Roberta has been blackmailing Risa, he goes for a motorcycle ride and gets into an accident. In the dialogue above, Cam expresses remorse for his angry, adolescent actions. Risa replies with an affirmation of his identity. Teenage angst is a limitation, but one that almost all humans experience.

“If this kid gets killed, or worse, unwound, who will remember him? Who will remember any of them? He wishes he could have been wise enough to have had each kid carve his or her name into the steel of the old Air Force One, a testament to the fact that they existed.”

Here, Connor regrets not recording the lives of the Whollies he was put in charge of by the ADR. In the moments before the Graveyard is raided by Juvey-cops, Connor considers the high cost of resisting the authorities. Connor’s guilt—magnified by his adolescence—causes him to overlook the lives he does help save and improve.

“Connor watches in horror as it all goes wrong.”

In this passage, Connor is shocked by Starkey’s mutiny. He does not have the training or experience to lead hundreds of teenagers in times of conflict or peace. Also, the extremes of emotion he experiences, specifically anger over Risa turning herself in, keep him from being a strong leader and aware of internal threats.

“She doesn’t have to kill Roberta. She can unwind her.”

After Roberta’s blackmail fails—when the Graveyard is raided despite Risa’s compliance with Roberta’s demands—Risa is enraged. This thought of Risa’s reflects Connor’s thought in Chapter 67 that unwinding is worse than just being killed. Risa decides her revenge will not be physically violent. It will be a political and social destruction of Roberta’s career instead.

“But like any spiderlike organization, the fangs of Proactive Citizenry don’t know what the spinneret is doing.”

Roberta is given one point-of-view chapter in UnWholly, which tracks the events that lead to her ignorance of the raid on the Graveyard. One aspect of her ignorance is that Proactive Citizenry did not keep her in the loop regarding their plans for Risa’s friends. This passage offers insight into the nature of the organization—its flaws, specifically. The company only looks out for itself and is willing to sacrifice its own employees.

“Who would have thought that the singular whole of her forgiveness was a more valuable gift than a hundred of her parts?”

When an unconscious Miracolina is picked up by the Juvey-cops outside the Graveyard during the raid, she discovers that her parents never signed her unwind order. In other words, Miracolina learns that she will live. Here, she finally accepts that her actions as a whole human being can be as altruistic as donating all her organs.

“And she will find Lev, where in the world he is, ask him to attend, and refuse to take no for an answer. And then, finally, she will dance with him.”

This passage recalls the princess motif that runs throughout the novel. It harkens back to a flirtatious exchange where Lev asked Miracolina to dance at an event in the Cavenaugh mansion, and she refused. Once Miracolina has accepted the idea of living as a whole human being, rather than constantly trying to be unwound, she decides she does want to dance with Lev after all—that is, she wants to enjoy being a teenager.

“There’s ordinary people out there doing extraordinary things. [...] And now you’ve given me the chance to be one of those extraordinary/ordinary people”

The final chapter of UnWholly offers some hope in regard to the motivations and actions of adults. Karla, a regular diner waitress, helps Connor and Lev avoid the cops—effectively helps save their lives. She offers this explanation when Connor and Lev ask why she is helping them. Kayla believes attitudes towards unwinding are changing, that adults are starting to see teens as not simply commodities but as people.