In a variety of literature, main characters struggle with defining their personalities as their experiences alter and change who they are. In Neal Shusterman’s Unwind, one of the main characters, Lev Calder, has a major personality change from the beginning to the end of the book. When the reader first meets Lev, he is portrayed as a naive, arrogant tithe, eagerly awaiting his unwinding. However, by the end of the book, Lev is independent and rebellious, very much against unwinding.
His change from being a naive tithe to a rebellious clapper has great impact on the storyline itself and makes him one of the most nteresting characters to follow. Lev’s parents host a tithing party for his 13th birthday. As part of his religion, when he turns 13, he will be “tithed” or sacrificed. Lev believes that he is “special,” stating, “As if he was like those other kids, whose parents signed the unwind order to get rid of In the beginning of the story, them. That couldn’t be further from the truth for Lev. He is his family’s pride and joy.
Straight As in school, MVP in little league. Just because he’s to be unwound does NOT mean he’s an Unwind” (Shusterman 31). By emphasizing that he is not “like hose other kids,” Lev shows his arrogance and superiority as well as his sheltered view of the world. Growing up being called “special” hides Lev from the harsh truths regarding his fate and his naivety forbids him from seeing past his parents’ lies, forcing him to be dependent on others. When Connor kidnaps Lev, Lev faces one of these harsh truths, but retains his arrogance and naivety in hopes of still saving his future.
When in the presence of Connor and Risa, Lev is forced to act like them, stating, “Pretending to be one of them-pretending to be like them had aken every ounce of Lev’s will. The only thing that kept him going was the knowledge that very soon everything would be as it should be” (Shusterman 68). By meeting two Unwinds, Lev sees a different side of unwinding, but after years of believing in tithing, he is unable to accept the truth of what he really is, an Unwind. He still shows his arrogance when “pretending to be like them,” emphasizing how difficult it was to act like a true Unwind.
Lev also expresses naivety when he states that “very soon everything would be as it should be,” implying that he has hope in a grim future. Lev, after being raised as “special,” is unable to accept many aspects of his life following his capture, but when his eyes finally open to the real world, his early character completely falls apart and he becomes more independent. Following Lev’s betrayal of Connor and Risa, Lev changes his way of life and begins to fend for himself.
He steals and cons to make money to survive and when he finally reaches the Graveyard, Connor and Risa barely recognize him. When describing Lev, Connor states, “This is no longer the clean-cut tithe he pulled out of his parents’ car more than two months efore. This kid has long, unkempt hair and a hardened look about him. This kid isn’t in his tithing whites but wears torn jeans and dirty red T-shirt” (Shusterman 208). By describing Lev as “unkempt” and “hardened,” the reader notices a darker side apart from Lev’s original clean, perfect personality.
The reader can infer that Lev has gone through some terrible experiences and that the naivety he had in the beginning of the book is all but lost. Lev’s rebellious attitude while at the Graveyard and his actions as a clapper represent his darker side. When Lev joins he clappers, he wants to get revenge on the world, stating, “All Lev knows is that someday soon the world will suffer a small part of the loss and the emptiness and the utter disillusionment he feels inside.
And they will know the moment he raises his hands in applause” (Shusterman 284). By declaring that “the world will suffer,” Lev secretly tries to get back at his parents and the people that convinced him that the idea of unwinding was acceptable. The emptiness and disillusionment are the effects of Lev coming to terms with reality and his rebellious ttitude as a clapper is a result of the inability to cope. Lev has finally gained his independence from his previous life in the only way he can, by destroying the world that caused it.
Early in the book, Lev would have never even dreamt of becoming a clapper or by living in any other way but luxury. However, by the end, Lev was faced with reality and forced to come to terms with the lies he grew up believing. Throughout much of Unwind, Lev provided the reader with insights into the life of a tithe, an unwind and a clapper, making him crucial to the storyline. His haracter also set in motion many major events that impacted the lives of both Connor and Risa and all other Unwinds.
In the beginning of the story, Lev is kidnapped by Connor and Risa, but before betraying them, he has a change of heart, stating, “I am lost in every possible way. Then, feeling the coldness of the steel against his fingertips, he pulls the fire alarm” (Shusterman 81). When Lev pulls the fire alarm, he allows for Connor and Risa to escape and eventually make it to the Graveyard. This action leaves Lev alone, but also to run into CyFi who helped him survive. Once Lev becomes the clapper that did not clap, he becomes the face of unwinding.
At the end of the book, Pastor Dan states, “I have to believe that things happen for a reason. Your kidnapping, your becoming a clapper, your refusing to clap’–he glances at the magazine cover in his hand–‘it’s all led to this. For years, Unwinds were just faceless kids that no one wanted–but now you’ve put a face on unwinding” (Shusterman 327). Lev’s actions were the final step to unleashing the uprising against unwinding. Before, people were too afraid to stand up and admit that unwinding was wrong, but by refusing to clap,
Lev made people question the true nature of unwinding and rallied Unwinds to rebel. By knowing Lev, CyFi testified in Congress and the complaints and events at Happy Jack forced the legal age of adulthood down to 17, saving thousands of Unwinds. Without Lev, Unwinds would still be unrecognized and forgotten, with no one to represent their image. In Unwind, most of the characters changed from the beginning to the end of the book, but none so much as Lev. His entire personality crumbled before him when he realized that everything he grew up believing was a lie.
Throughout the entire book, his experiences and decisions built upon his broken personality until it was completely new and different. His early arrogance and naivety were replaced with his rebellious and independent attitude by the end. Starting as a tithe gave him an innocent, sheltered view on the world, but becoming a clapper introduced him to the chaos of reality. Only his changes influenced the outcome of the story and shaped the world of unwinding. From a tithe to a clapper, Lev saw the good and evil in the world and not only opened his own eyes to it, but the eyes of everyone else.
