COMPOUND by S. A. Bodeen

SYMBOLISM

• Eli’s hair over his eyes: when Eli is troubled he puts his hair over his face. This symbolizes a wall or protection that covers Eli.
• The supplements: The supplements or the children in the story symbolize the innocence.
• The compound: It symbolizes complete isolation. The compound separates the family from everything on the outside world.
• Mom and Dad: His mom symbolizes the good in the story and his dad symbolizes the evil. The mom was on the children’s side to leave the compound and she was always the caring one. The dad was a lying self-centered man. He kept his family down in the compound and lied about a nuclear fallout.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A DYSTOPIAN SOCIETY

THEME

• Citizens have a fear of the outside world (They Think a nuclear bomb just went off)
• Citizens live in a dehumanized state (Rex keeps "the supplements" locked in a room by themselves)
• Propaganda is used to control the citizens of a society (There was no internet connection)
• Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance (Rex always watched everything they did)

The theme of the story is survival. The book tells a story about how far people will go to keep there loved ones safe and how much they will do that isn't quite morally right even if it means the protection of friends and family.

SETTING

CHARACTERS

• An underground compound used to survive a nuclear attack which his father built
• "My world ended with a bang, the minute we entered the compound and the silver door closed behind us"(1).

• Lexie, She is the adopted older sister of Eli and wasn't really social with Eli until she went into the compound. Lexie finally starts opening up to Eli when the health of the family is threatened by Rex and his outbursts.
• Clea, The mother of Eli and the keeper of the house and day to day rules. She is the wife of Rex and sees that everyone is taken care of. Her humble and quiet manor is quite different from the rest of the family. Clea shows that she cares for her kids more than there father by not feeding them the poisoned flour but still giving it to Rex.

• Eli, The main character in the story. lost his twin in the fallout and has become antisocial during his time in the compound. He is the main protagonist in the book. he finally starts to open up to people towards the end of the book when he gets a haircut taking away his sense of self protection.
• Rex, The father figure and multi billionaire with his computer company. With his vast wealth he created the compound for his family. Rex may have gone to far when he starts talking about cloning and supplements.

COMPOUND by S. A. Bodeen