Selfish America Abortion is a currently very controversial issue in America, with a recent survey of over 1,000 people identifying that 47% were pro-choice, while 46% were pro-life (“U.S. Still Split”). With such an equal split, many people find themselves disagreeing with others, and are desperate for a decision on the issue that is congruous with their own opinion. The dystopian novel Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, takes place in a future where the debate went so far as to spark a civil war, which was eventually mediated with compromise: children must be allowed to live to the age of thirteen, at which point the parent or guardian, until the child turns eighteen, may choose “unwinding”, a euphemism for a surgery in which the body is kept alive and split up so that the parts can be transplanted. This led to many runaways trying to escape the procedure, overcrowded orphanages full of children who were required to be born despite parents with no intention of keeping them, and even “storking”, where a newborn can be left on a doorstep by the mother, legally forcing the new family to take care of it. However, there were also various benefits: teens who would …show more content…
With both of these problems continually getting worse, and very little being done in response, our own society, like that in Unwind, will eventually be desperate for anything to be done to alleviate the growing dilemmas. Nonetheless, this alarming outcome may be avoided; both issues are predominantly fueled by selfishness, and therefore, if Americans put aside self-centered attitudes and helped others, whether by registering as donors, helping at-risk teens, or in some other way, our society would be a much better
Neal Schusterman’s novel unwinds Delves into a dystopian world where societal conflicts are resolved through the controversial practice of unwinding teenagers, a process of organ harvesting. Throughout the book, the author explores themes of identity self-discovery, and the struggle for personal agency. This essay will examine three significant quotes from unwind, highlighting their relevance to the characters development and their profound implications on the narrative. "Don't you see, Lev? You can save yourself.
Neal Shusterman published Unwind on the date of November 6, 2007. Unwind is a dystopian/science fiction novel based over a very controlling, gruesome society after a war - known as the Second Civil War or the Heartland War - somewhere in the near future. The society turned out this way because there was to be no more abortions or giving up children. Now that there is no more of this, people found ways around the rules, such as “storking” (leaving baby on someone’s doorstep). If caught “storking” a baby, the parent must keep the baby.
Seclude within every guardian’s sinister ideas are one infinitesimal wish that their child would disappear forever. Unwind, a dark, thought-provoking novel emphasize the ignorance of humanity; creating a community with the type of moral justice that vivisects a teenager who wastes thirteen years on being a child. “Set in a future in which abortions are outlawed but parents have the option of signing over their 13- to 17-year-olds to be used as organ donors”(Peters ). Three main characters, Connor, Risa, and Lev have to somehow survive to adulthood while trying to save whoever they come across as well. Symbolism and figurative language are ubiquitous, from the clappers to all the documents meticulously placed at the beginning of each chapter.
In 1791 Thomas Paine wrote a book about America’s demeanor and several centuries later not much has changed. In almost three hundred years buildings have sprung up where forest once thrived, races have come together despite cultural differences, and political lines have rearranged to create the constantly evolving United States of America. The surface of America will never stop changing but, the principles of the American people will always be the same. We as a people will always be accepting of anyone regardless of race and we will always support the right to choose heedless of class. However riots and protestors have begun in an attempt to stop the police officers from treating Americans with such brutality.
The central problem in Unwind that needs solving in order to resolve the dystopia that has been created is children being unwanted which led to them being unwinded. In Unwind an example, which leads to children not being wanted is because as Samson said on page twenty-one, “It’s not what I did, it’s what I didn’t do.” This explains why some people are unwanted and in the book Unwind it was the main reason children were sent to get unwinded. Or in some cases such as Risa it was a way to get rid of people because of the budget cuts made which affected the state houses. Another part of the central problem which is stated in Unwind on page nineteen, “There are unwanted babies born every day — and not all of them get storked.”
In 1850 America was a country that was young and reckless. In the 50’s we went through 3 presidents; Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan. The safety pin, dishwasher, and sewing machine were invented. We had California, Minnesota, and Oregon joined the United States. When I step back and look at the 1850s, I see a solid decade in the further development of America, however, the selfishness that Southern Americans partook in, is disgraceful.
After reading the chapters and articles on reciprocity I was really intrigued by the idea of reciprocity. I have been to Africa many times and I was reminded a lot of the Senegalese people when reading the articles. Many people in America do not really understand how much of what they get is so good when compared to other countries. We live in a place where we think we are the best and deserve everything and expect everything to get handed to us. An example of Generalized reciprocity in America are the farmers of our world.
People are not good at heart, even when people nice or caring, they still do things that are mean. People are constantly being rude, and selfish, because they want to be right, alternitivly of nice. People do horrible things because they are so self centered and don’t want to help anyone else. People are also always blaming things on other people, to make themselves look better, or smarter. People often only do nice things to get something, or make people feel better after they have done something wrong.
The Myth of Individual Opportunity Opportunity is something that is earned, not given. You are not born with the gift of individual opportunity. You might be born into poverty or into a rich family. You might be black. You might be white.
Throughout history there has always been the debate, is America a land of opportunity? It is well known that situations in the past have not always been handled very professionally. With a semi-weak government and the idea that only certain criteria meeting men will amount to anything gives off the impression that not all is off to a good start. It is said that time heals all wounds, but if you look thoroughly through a history textbook it is evident that this is not always the case. To look back at things in the past you can easily tell that times were exceptionally different and harder.
I have doubts that enough Americans will ever seek to look out for the America first. The self-interest of 300+ million Americans leads them to act according to their own short term interests, satisfying their immeadiate needs and possibly wants. The modern American is morphing into an "on-demand" mentality. The more that catches on, the more this economy will depend on other countries to meet our specific demands.
The Gilded Age was a time of rapid social change and industrial growth in the United States. This time period, between 1865 and 1900, saw active industrialization and a large increase in new wealth. Despite its achievements, however, this era between was plagued by poverty, crime, corruption, and many other class-based issues between America’s rich and poor. Greed was at the root of these issues. Greed caused the wealthy to become selfish and resort to doing anything in order to increase their monopolies.
Many people throughout their lives at least once acted recklessly and irrationally to overcome challenges. Without thinking thoughtfully, the actions they performed may have harmed others or themselves. This is why the phrase, “think before you act” is created, to prevent others from performing tactless maneuvers to satisfy their challenges and emotions. In the novel, A Brave New World, Aldous Huxley suggests that individuals who act recklessly in the face of adversity will fail miserably; these reckless actions will cause despair and grief for the individual or others because of their lack of thinking and overwhelming of emotions. In A Brave New World, author Aldous Huxley introduced an Alpha-Plus male named Bernard Marx.
America’s identity is defined differently by every individual. Ideally it was to be a place of freedom and acceptance, identified by its message of liberty and hard-work, however the question arises whether America is a melting pot in which only one culture dominates or it a mosaic of many peoples’ histories. America’s potential and true identity lies within its ability to assimilate and create a natural individualism despite race, class, and immigration standing. A country as powerful and influential as America is within industry, politics, and socioeconomics cannot be abstract in definition.
Progressivisms Changes Throughout America Progressivism is a vastly important topic in one’s life and today’s government, and it affects every person’s life more than they may even know. Progressivism started in the United States, a country filled with corruption and greed, but its ideas looked to release our country from these terrible ideas and bring in a new age of progress. Its ideas have continued to help the U.S. reform and review laws and other regulations in order to give our country 's government, and its people, relief from the trap of bad leaders and those leaders making poor decisions, which affect everyone in a negative way. Progressive ideas have led our country to elect better leaders and, with those better leaders, use them to make