As selfishness escalates, human morals deteriorate. Neal Shusterman’s Unwind illustrates such a society, as he presents an egotistical world in which greed dominates too many people’s actions. Granted, very few people in today’s world engage in most of the practices Shusterman describes, but people overlook morality both in Shusterman’s world and in our own.
Shusterman presents a world uncomfortably similar to the modern world. In particular, the concept of “unwinding” amplifies the abortion debate in modern America. When discussing history with Connor, the Admiral reveals, “On the one side, people were murdering abortion doctors to protect the right to life, while on the other side people were getting pregnant just to sell their fetal tissue” (223). Through the Admiral’s recollection, Shusterman confronts readers with a bitter reality about most modern-day disputes: people ignore their own wrongdoings while focusing on the faults of others. As a result, some parents’ bigotry causes them to place their own demands…show more content… In Unwind, the pawnbroker expresses his outrage when Lev “got him to open the safe, and the moment he did, he knocked him out and cleaned out the safe” (161). Most people immediately seize an opportunity to take advantage of others, but become indignant when someone cheats them. Desire for wealth oftentimes interferes with morality when the opportunity for personal gain arises, such as when a pawnbroker who “puts on his well-practiced poker face” offers a lower price on an item than its actual value (159). Similarly, a website may lure a user to provide a credit card number by the promise of a free item, or a door-to-door salesman may pose as someone else in the way Risa poses as Didi, who claims to be “collecting clothes and food for [her] school” and instead uses the items herself (55). In general, a longing for wealth provokes people to deceive others and inhibits