Sociological Concepts In Unwind

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Sociology is the study of human interactions and behavior. In Neal Shusterman’s novel, “Unwind,” people live in a world where it’s normal to dismember and donate the organs of teens, ages 13 to 18. When unwound, the teens are believed to still be alive, but in a divided state. An escape Unwind, named Connor, goes on a journey with another Unwind and a tithe. After all of them going their different ways, they all end up back at the same place waiting to get unwound. Luckily they didn’t unwound, and in the end all of their troubles started the process of stopping unwinding. The three most important sociological concepts in found in Unwind are symbols, languages, and Norms. One of the main concepts found throughout the novel are symbols. A symbol is a component of culture that can represent anything else. For example, …show more content…
Norms are shared values that people follow in certain situations. Furthermore, when Connor is running away from the Juvey-cops, he thinks “He’s got to do something decent, something good to make up for the awful consequences of his kicking- AWOL” (Shusterman, 30). This quote represents a more because if someone is caught kicking- AWOL then they are punished severely. This is because it’s against the law, therefore whoever does this will get punished. This could also be shown as being deviance since this is also considered breaking a norm. Moreover, Connor mentions that “he’s seen a storked baby twice on his own doorstep. Even though it’s not the same baby, he stops in his tracks as if it is” (Shusterman, 47). A stork baby is an infant who is dropped off on the doorstep of a random person. Storking a baby is a folkway and doesn’t have a consequence because everyone is okay with it. Even though this could harm a child, it is not a big deal to many people. In conclusion, norms are the main sociological concepts found because they display the behavior of the citizens of the