112 pages • 3 hours read
Unwind
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Chapters 34-40Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 5: “Graveyard”
Chapter 34 Summary: Connor
Connor finds his specialty, too, at the Graveyard: He can fix things. Moreover, “[T]here are few things he can stand less than a bunch of morons standing around looking at something that doesn’t work and wondering who’s going to fix it” (202). Connor’s skill gets him moved up from trash duty to repair duty.
Connor learns that Roland is being trained to fly a helicopter. He notices Roland drawing negative energy from other kids, but “Social manipulation is not one of Connor’s strengths” (203). Although Connor wants to act on impulse, he realizes he won’t because Risa’s voice is in his head.
One day, a work call is announced—an opportunity to leave the Graveyard and hope you can survive working until you’re eighteen. Connor dislikes work calls because he thinks the Admiral is using them. Hayden tells him, “I’d rather be used whole than in pieces” (205). Roland approaches Connor after his conversation with Hayden. He tells Connor that the Admiral isn’t real—his body parts are stolen from Unwinds like them. For Connor, “The very idea that he and Roland could in any way be on the same side makes him feel like he swallowed something rancid” (207).
One day, Connor notices a new kid—Lev, which sets off Connor’s bullheaded earlier approach to things. “This is the kid who betrayed him. This is the kid he once swore he’d never forgive. And yet the thought of him unwound had been too much to bear” (208). Connor punches Lev, and then hugs him.
Two days later, Connor is called to fix something at the Admiral’s. Connor doesn’t trust the Admiral, especially after his conversation with Roland. When he arrives, the Admiral is cleaning a gun. Connor wonders why the gun is loaded, but the Admiral says he is just cleaning it. The “broken” item is a coffee maker, which was unplugged. After he “fixes” the issue, the Admiral asks to talk about Connor’s habit of getting into fights. The Admiral notes Connor’s fights tend to fix something, too. He is looking for Connor’s loyalty.
Connor distrusts the Admiral, and accuses him of harvesting parts from the Unwinds—including the Admiral’s own teeth (which Roland told him). The Admiral then pulls his teeth out, shocking Connor, and reveals that they are dentures. He didn’t take them from an Unwind—he had them crafted in Thailand. He then explains that dentures used to be common before the war. After the Admiral tells Connor the truth about his teeth, and that he only wants to help Unwinds, Connor trusts the Admiral. He then takes Connor to another plane after making Connor promise to help him. Inside the plane is a crate with five dead kids. They are the Admiral’s five most trusted kids. The Admiral says, “Whoever it is took out the five most powerful kids…which means, whoever did this wants to systematically dismantle the power structure here, so that they can rise to the top of it more quickly” (217). He asks Connor to investigate.
The Admiral announces the deaths in front of all the kids. Connor watches Roland for a reaction, but doesn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Later, Roland continues to egg other kids on by telling them the Admiral wants their body parts. Connor decides to tell the Admiral he thinks Roland killed the kids.
The Admiral wants proof. While Connor is with the Admiral, the Admiral tells him about the war. There were three sides: pro-life, pro-choice, and the military who kept both sides from killing each other. When the Bill of Life was created, it was intended to be so ridiculous that both sides would see the error of their ways. However, both sides agreed with the Bill. The Admiral explains that he had to unwind his son as an example to everyone else. The Admiral’s confession and explanation forces to Connor to reconsider all sides:
It never occurred to Connor to consider the toll unwinding had on the ones who signed the order. He never thought he could have sympathy for a parent who could do that—or sympathy for one of the men who had made unwinding possible (225).
Chapter 35 Summary: Lev
During his time apart from Connor and Risa, Lev learned to be street-smart by doing everything possible to survive, though how he managed to become so isn’t revealed. Instead, “Where Lev was between the time he left CyFi and his arrival at the Graveyard is less important than where his thoughts resided” (226). Lev began lying to people about his past—telling them his parents wanted him unwound after armed robbery.
One night, he meets a couple of kids in a plane at the Graveyard. He tells them he was told to go there. They ask him to tell them about himself. “This must begin with truth,” Lev decides, “So he tells them everything, from the moment he was kidnapped by Connor to his time with CyFi and the weeks after that” (228). They ask him how much he hates the people who were going to unwind him, and “Lev is amazed by the depth of his own fury—but he’s becoming less and less frightened of it. He tells himself that’s a good thing” (229).
The other kids are satisfied with Lev’s answers and begin to trust him. They reveal that they have messed with the Admiral already, but they refuse to tell Lev how they did it.
Chapter 36 Summary: Risa
“Risa is the first to notice something’s wrong with Connor. Risa is the first to care that something’s wrong with Lev” (231). She walks to one of the study jets to look at the medical texts. When she gets there, she notices Connor. He is reading a book about criminology. He tells her to keep her head down because he is worried the Admiral will ask her to be one of his most trusted. She tells Connor she wants to help him. In response, he reaches over the table and kisses her.
Lev on the other hand, shows up at the infirmary with a bad sunburn. She notices a hand print on his back and asks him if someone is bothering him. He tells her to just give him some medicine so he can go. “There’s a deadness to his voice that’s haunting. She goes to the cabinet and finds a tube of aloe cream, but she doesn’t hand it to him just yet” (235). She tells Lev he is disturbing.
The next day, there is a work call. This one is to work on a pipeline in Alaska. Lev and two other kids raise their hands. They are the only ones who want to go. Risa tries to stop Lev by threatening to give him a bad bill of health. He is not fazed and tells her he is going. He walks away. “Once again, Risa thinks she’ll never see Lev again” (238).
Chapter 37 Summary: Emby and the Admiral
Emby has kept his head down while at the Graveyard. “But keeping his head down does not keep him in the safe zone” (238). Instead, the Admiral has taken an interest in him and calls him to a meeting. The Admiral calls Emby by his real name, Zachary. “Never let anyone else name you” (239), he tells Emby. The Admiral tells Emby that some people have wanted to meet him for a long time and that some men will take him there. He reveals his son had asthma like Emby. One of the men calls the Admiral “Admiral Dunfee,” and Emby realizes he has the same last name as the folktale about Humphrey Dunfee.
Chapter 38 Summary: Mob
People around the Graveyard begin to notice Emby is missing. “Now Emby, the kid at the bottom of the pecking order, has suddenly become everyone’s best friend, and his disappearance fuel for everyone’s fire” (241). Roland begins to stir the pot even more. Connor brings his concerns to the Admiral, who tells him to forget about Emby and work on figuring out who killed the five kids. Connor leaves the Admiral, who has a pain in his shoulder. He calls for a medic.
Chapter 39 Summary: Roland
Roland gets a message. It says, “I know what you did. I’ll make you a deal. Meet me at the FedEx jet” (243). Initially confused, Roland decides to go. “It burns Roland that he might have to bargain with Connor, but there are worse things” (243).
Chapter 40 Summary: Connor
Connor waits for Roland in the FedEx plane and greets him at gun point. He orders Roland into the same crate where the five bodies were found. Connor locks Roland inside and shoots the box. Then, he tells Roland it is time to talk.
Chapters 34-40 Analysis
Distrust and the fear of betrayal are evident in these chapters. Roland tells Connor that the Admiral isn’t really interested in helping all the Unwinds, planting doubt. Roland thinks he must be helping them so he can get the parts of Unwinds he wants. Despite not liking Roland, Connor believes he may be right. Being an Unwind means distrusting those who seem like they may help you. However, the Admiral eases Connor’s fears by signing him on as his most trusted Unwind and telling him the truth about his involvement in the war. The Admiral therefore shows Connor to be careful about where he places his trust and mistrust.
However, the rest of the camp doesn’t know the truth about the Admiral, and Roland’s whispers begin to make others question the Admiral’s intentions, underscoring just how palpable fear, betrayal, and distrust runs among the Unwinds. Even Emby fears for his life when he is called to see the Admiral. The fear is exacerbated by the revelation that the Admiral’s last name is the same as Humphrey Dunfee’s, a boy in a folktale who was unwound and whose family tried to piece him back together by locating each person who received an implant from him. This makes the Admiral into more of a near-mythic figure, further removing him from the others.
Connor fears the betrayal of others so much that when he asks Roland to meet him he arms himself with a gun and locks Roland in a crate. He refuses to take any chances. Meanwhile, the atmosphere of distrust in the camp grows when the kids realize Emby is missing. They speculate that the Admiral wanted something Emby had and believe that Emby is dead. All the distrust and fear is coming to a head and pushes the plot toward a climax.
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