Response to Literature Essay #2: Ethical Issues Like Arthur Ernest Morgan once said, ”Lack of something to feel important about is almost the greatest tragedy a man may have.” This rings true in a world where people are stripped of their individualism and reduced to nothing more than the sum of their body parts. In the novel, Undivided, the author, Neal Shusterman, brings forth numerous prominent ethical issues throughout the plot. This is illustrated through forced separation of families, people put into camps to be “unwound”, and lack of government accountability. One of the most prominent ethical issues in the novel is the forced separation of families. The government in the book has the authority to "unwind" teenagers, which essentially means that they will be taken apart and their body parts will be used for transplantation. This practice is …show more content…
These camps are overcrowded and underfunded, leading to terrible living conditions for the teenagers. Moreover, the fact that the government can designate someone for unwinding without their consent raises serious ethical concerns about individual rights and government accountability.
The lack of government accountability is yet another prominent ethical issue in the novel. The government in the book has the power to designate anyone for unwinding, and there is no clear system of checks and balances to ensure that this power is not abused. The fact that teenagers can be unwound without their consent raises serious questions about individual rights and autonomy. Moreover, the government's justifications for the practice, such as reducing the number of problematic teenagers, are questionable at best and raise concerns about the government's motivations and