The Compound Response #1

The Compound

-Select a relatively important event in the book and describe why it was a turning point in the character’s life? What was it that the character decided or learned to do?

            The main turning point in The Compound seems to be the moment when Eli decides it is time for him to see what his “dead” twin named Eddy’s room looks like and he finds his laptop. This moment made Eli more curious about what else is in this compound underground that he never really explored after living there for around six years. This laptop was also very important because it brought Eli the ability to see there was internet and made him realize that his father was really hiding something.

            One day, Eli was using the laptop and reminiscing on his past years when he would instant message with his brother. He was sitting outside of his dad’s office and he got that very important message stating “Wireless Network Now Connected.” At that moment Eli realized that something was wrong and that his father was lying. ”I WAS PISSED, PISSED AT the possibility that my father was keeping things from me, maybe even lying. And if that was true, I would be even more upset at myself for being such a dupe, just taking things lying down, believing everything he said.”

            The laptop had the ability to connect to the internet because Eli’s father did not block its abilities to connect like all the other laptops that they actually use in the compound. This laptop gave Eli the ability to speak with his brother and Gram. He thought both of them were dead until he saw his brother online on instant messenger. This whole nuclear attack story created by their father was a fake and some sort of sick conspiracy from Eli’s dad and Eli was realizing that. Eli’s father was treating this like some sort of science experiment, causing his own family pain and suffering. “I didn’t understand how he could do this to us, the people he was supposed to love the most. When he did he start hating us? Because he must have hated us, if he could even consider doing this. It was the only explanation I had that made sense.” said Eli. He was deeply confused on why his father would do this to his family.

            Eli realizes the importance of taking the leadership role in saving his family from the Compound and their father. Eli goes through hell in order to save his mom and siblings. He even physically fought his own father. Throughout the process of saving his family, Eli becomes very close with his siblings including little Luke who helps Eli a lot when he was trying to get the hatch opened and when Eli’s arm got stuck. Without the help of his siblings, their trust in him, and vise versa, Eli and his family would not have got out of the compound safely and rejoined with their long lost grandma, brother, and loving family.