Unflattening

Nonfiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 2015

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapter 4-Interlude 2

Chapters 7-8

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary: “Vectors”

Sousanis argues that human reflection, especially the way humans reflect on the environment and on our own existence, bolsters the case against flatness (Location 143). He introduces the geometric figure of the vector to show how we are “separate yet connected” from the rest of the world (Location 143), and how this allows us to witness ourselves from these two distinct vantage points.

Sousanis points to unique developments in human evolution such as our thumbs and ability to stand up on two feet, arguing that these make us who we are; without them, we would become shadowy, adrift figures. Illustrations of a human figure that has cut its strings culminate in an emaciated silhouette. The next illustration shows human figures navigating a tapestry of threads as Sousanis champions philosopher Bruno Latour’s view that being emancipated “‘does not mean freed from bonds,’ but well-attached” (Location 148). Our attachments to multiple aspects of life on Earth can be powerful forces to harness in the quest to become what educational reformer John Dewey labels “positively present” (Location 151). This phrase encompasses the idea that we aren’t complete in and of ourselves but rather “emerge from the interaction of forces in motion, an association of vectors” (Location 151). This means that, like Sousanis’s illustration of a girl whose hair gives way to wings (Location 151), we can interact with our environment to experience radical changes in how we perceive ourselves and the world.

Chapter 8 Summary: “Awaking”

The final chapter begins with the illustration of a profile view of a baby with closed eyes (Location 156). Accompanying the illustration is text that asserts that no one’s identity is certain until they are born, and after that, “[W]e don’t know who you’ll become until you’ve explored the possibilities” (Location 156). Comparing identity to shoe sizes, Sousanis argues that a perfect fit is near impossible and that we would do better to customize our own shoes and, by extension, our own path through life.

He then returns to the image of the vector to show that perspective is always relational: “[E]ach new engagement generates another vantage point from which to continue the process anew” (Location 163). By continually renewing our perspective, we remind ourselves what it is like to “open our eyes to the world for the first time” (Location 165). The closing image depicts a baby’s open eye.

Chapters 7-8 Analysis

The common theme of these last two chapters is infinity and the idea that perception—of ourselves, others, and the world—is never complete. Once we are comfortable with the idea that we do not and cannot know and control everything, we abandon the search for rigid paths and open ourselves to the possibility for change and transformation. Even as we navigate our own conscious path through the world, Sousanis advocates awareness of all the other routes that we could never possibly take. This gives us an appreciation of infinity and underscores that perception is never complete.

The figure of the baby in the last chapter represents a new type of person with an idiosyncratic—but also deeply and fundamentally human—way of exploring the world. The human in its newest form is the opposite of the stuck-in-a-rut automaton that prioritizes efficiency over curiosity. To find their most authentic truth, everyone should follow the baby’s example and figure out their own path in life. Sousanis’s metaphor of the ready-made shoes that never properly fit highlights the unnatural awkwardness of adopting someone else’s viewpoint. Sousanis’s view is the Romantic one espoused by the 18th-century philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, who venerated childhood as a more “natural” state prior to the corrupting influence of society.

Sousanis’s extensive use of metaphors throughout Unflattening deserves consideration in light of his claims about language. The shortcomings Sousanis associates with language arguably apply more to its denotative rather than connotative aspects—that is, to language as a vehicle for spelling out particular, concrete ideas. Literary language in particular often achieves its effects through qualities that may themselves elude concrete expression, such as the sound of a word and the subjective feeling that it conjures. Certain forms of language may also work in nonlinear ways—for example, a poetic rhyme that links two words independent of their position within a phrase or sentence. This does not detract from Sousanis’s argument about the role nonverbal (and especially visual) forms of thinking could play in education, but it does suggest that verbal thinking is itself multiple and diverse.