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The Compound, S. A. Bodeen

An End of the World Story?

Aug 18, 2008 Sarah Reck

Bodeen imagines an existence contained completely within the walls of an underground compound in the wake of nuclear war.

Often in fiction the end of the world occurs with a bang. In S. A. Bodeen’s young adult novel, The Compound, the end of the world for Eli, the son of a techno-millionaire, comes with the heavy closing of a door. In order to escape the death and destruction of nuclear war, Eli’s father secures his family in a large underground compound.

Six Years Later

Eli and his family spend six years in the compound. They are running low on food. Someone has poisoned the livestock. Eli’s father is seemingly going crazy. And Eli doesn’t think the world on the outside is as bad as his father makes it out to be.

When they entered the compound, they left behind Eli’s twin brother and their grandmother. Eli has never felt as though his brother is gone from him. But when Eli starts asking questions, he realizes his father is the reason they are still locked underground in the compound. He won’t let them leave.

A World Brought to Life

Bodeen’s fictional world consists almost entirely of this compound, so it is immediately necessary that she bring it fully to life for her readers. She uses known technology to create a futuristic feel to a possibly sterile world. Actions, dialogue, and flashbacks allow the reader the unique opportunity to see the risks of a world warring with nuclear bombs.

It is interesting to watch Bodeen deal with the intricacies of such a cut-off life. What do they do when they run low on food? When the flour goes bad? When tensions start to get high? Bodeen does not take the simple way out; she does not create actions that follow the expected. Instead, she delves further into her imagination to tug out the extremes. All is not well in the compound, and Bodeen does not sugarcoat it.

Simplistic, Personable Narration

Eli narrates the story. By choosing this point of view, Bodeen can identify with her young adult audience. One oncern with the first person point of view is that Eli grows up in the compound, outside of a society of other teenage boys. Is he then acting the correct age? How has his near-solitary existense affected his maturity?

Curiously, Eli acts like an average teenage boy. He gets annoyed with his sisters, angsty to his parents, and determined on being an emotional loner. But that determination also allows him to question his life and, more importantly, his father.

The Compound, S. A. Bodeen, Feiwel & Friends, April 2008. ISBN: 9780312370152

The copyright of the article The Compound, S. A. Bodeen in Teen Fiction is owned by Sarah Reck. Permission to republish The Compound, S. A. Bodeen in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.