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Chapter 20
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Unwind, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Inequality, Injustice, and the Law
Anger, Violence, and Radicalization
Activism, Compassion, and Atonement
Morality and Perspective
Summary
Analysis
Lev and an umber boy named Cyrus, who goes by the nickname CyFi, walk along some train tracks. CyFi likes to hear himself talk and occasionally mentions “the good Lord,” which annoys Lev since God doesn’t seem to be helping him much. CyFi rambles on about how people came to use “umber” instead of “black,” and notes that his dads believe that it was a way for people to make themselves seem nicer. CyFi is a runaway too, but he won’t tell Lev where he’s going. Lev doesn’t care. They met at a mall where Lev was hiding, and CyFi showed him how to trick food court employees into giving him food. Lev understands that CyFi needs an audience, and Lev would rather hear CyFi talk than listen to the anxious, guilty voices in his own head.
What CyFi’s dads say about why people switched to using “umber” instead of “black” recalls the way that Risa’s lawyer called her out for “inflammatory” language: controlling how people talk about something can influence how people think about it by making it seem better or nicer. That Lev is hanging out with CyFi because he wants to hear something else speaks to how vulnerable he is right now—and at this point, CyFi is probably the most benign influence on Lev, as he opens Lev’s worldview without introducing him to dangerous or harmful ideas.
Themes
CyFi defines “decapitated” for Lev, which annoys Lev even further. Lev snaps that CyFi can stop talking with double negatives. Extremely offended, CyFi says he’s speaking in Old World Umber patois, but Lev insists the dialect is fake. CyFi rants about how he chooses to not speak like Lev so he can respect his ancestors. CyFi briefly mentions his dads, a family structure Lev has only ever heard of, and then continues to brag about his high IQ. He pauses and says it’s not as high as it used to be: he was in an accident that destroyed his temporal lobe and got a new one from an Unwind. He got a whole temporal lobe instead of brain bits because his dads paid off the surgeon, but the Unwind wasn’t as smart as CyFi is.
The revelation that CyFi’s dads were able to pay off the surgeon to get a “better” part—a whole temporal lobe—shows again how inequitable and corrupt the world of the novel is. When CyFi laments that he’s not as smart as he used to be thanks to the Unwind’s lower IQ, it also suggests that unwinding and the corresponding organ transplants are normalized in their society even if they have negative effects. For CyFi and others, this is a simple fact of life.
Themes
One of Lev’s sisters has epilepsy and had tiny parts of her brain replaced to cure it, but Lev never considered where the brain bits came from. CyFi asks Lev how smart he is, and Lev says he doesn’t know; his parents believe that everyone is equal in God’s eyes. He admits that he’s a tithe, which seems to impress CyFi. CyFi notes when they cross the state line, but Lev doesn’t ask what state they’re in so that he doesn’t sound stupid. The boys sleep in shacks where tracks meet. Lev is freezing, as he only has a stolen puffy white coat. He hates that it’s white, since he’s worn white his entire life and it’s not comforting anymore.
Lev’s sudden understanding of where his sister’s brain bits came from reminds him of all the ways in which unwinding truly does help people. Given his uncertain thoughts about unwinding, this could push him in either direction: either he may decide that this is proof enough that the costs of unwinding are worth the benefits, or he may decide that because he now feels bad for Connor and Risa, it’s not worth it to sacrifice them.
Themes
One night, CyFi asks why Lev’s parents tithed him. CyFi explains that he was storked and his dads were so pleased to wind up with a baby, they got “mmarried.” Lev doesn’t know what it means to get mmarried, but CyFi won’t elaborate. CyFi asks what Lev’s parents are like. Lev says he hates them. They do everything they’re supposed to do, but they love God more than they love him. For hating them, Lev believes he’s going to hell.
Lev’s insistence that he’s going to go to hell for hating his parents is an indicator that the worldview he grew up with isn’t one that’s designed to let someone like Lev gather information and come to their own conclusions. Rather, Lev believes he’s doomed, which will make him vulnerable to choosing drastic and radical measures in the future.
Themes
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Two days later, they reach a town in Indiana and CyFi insists they need to head south. Lev notices that CyFi isn’t acting right. He shuffles, drops his patois, and Lev notices something threatening in his voice. CyFi says they’re going to Joplin, Missouri, but won’t say why. This worries Lev, as once they get there, he knows he’ll be on his own. CyFi suddenly ducks into a Christmas store and Lev sees him snatch a gold ornament off of a tree. Once back outside, CyFi bolts. Lev is afraid he’s having a seizure and considers abandoning CyFi, but the look in CyFi’s eyes was the same look of desperation Lev saw in Connor’s eyes. Lev vows to not betray CyFi either.
When Lev recognizes that the look in CyFi’s eyes was the same as that in Connor’s, it shows that Lev is expanding his worldview and, in the process, is developing empathy and compassion for those who are different from him. The sudden change in CyFi, meanwhile, suggests that there’s something seriously wrong with him that’s possibly influencing his decision to travel to Joplin—remember, CyFi isn’t an Unwind, and therefore has no good reason to be out on his own as a teenager.
Themes
Lev cautiously follows CyFi and finds him hiding under a playground slide. His face and one hand twitch, and he looks like he’s in pain. CyFi shakily says he didn’t steal the ornament; he doesn’t steal. He crushes the ornament and then instructs Lev to look through his coat pockets. Lev finds a small treasure trove of expensive, shiny jewelry, and CyFi snaps at him to get rid of it before “he” makes CyFi change his mind. Lev buries the jewelry except for one diamond bracelet and returns to CyFi. CyFi’s patois returns.
When CyFi notes that there’s another person who might make him change his mind, it offers up the possibility that there may be more going on with CyFi’s temporal lobe than simply not being one from a genius. Recalling Josias’s transplanted arm that imbues him with the talents of the Unwind from whom the limb came, it’s possible that CyFi, too, is being affected by the consciousness of the Unwind whose temporal lobe now resides in him. If true, this would open up a whole host of other problems with the ethics of unwinding, seeing as it may push people like CyFi to engage in illegal or unhealthy behavior.
Themes
CyFi and Lev sleep in a motel that night. Lev asks what’s going on and dangles the diamond bracelet. He asks what his name is, and CyFi slumps. CyFi confirms Lev’s suspicions: CyFi’s temporal lobe still belongs to the Unwind. CyFi says he doesn’t know the kid’s name, but the kid had problems that he now has to deal with. He says the kid isn’t bad, he’s just hurting and steals compulsively. CyFi experiences some of the kid’s emotions, and it’s especially hard since most people automatically assume an umber kid is a bad kid. Thanks to this temporal lobe, CyFi embodies this stereotype by stealing. CyFi admits that he hasn’t told his dads and that the Unwind doesn’t know he’s a part of CyFi. Lev realizes that the kid lived in Joplin, and CyFi replies that he hopes if he helps the kid get back there, he’ll leave CyFi alone.
What CyFi says specifically about how racism still functions in his world. The idea that umber kids are deviants and criminals is one rooted in the reader’s world, which suggests that, as CyFi’s dads noted, shifting from “black” to “umber” didn’t do anything to help race relations. While there’s clearly a lot wrong with CyFi’s situation, unwinding actually puts him at risk even though it’s supposed to help him.
Themes
