The Fort

The fort itself is more than a simple location. It functions as the dominant symbol in the novel. The bunker represents a refuge and relates to the theme of Troubled Lives. Each of the boys has a reason to flee from some unpleasant aspect of their personal world. The fort allows them to escape parental scrutiny and teenage bullies. Evan prefers it because he can bond with his friends and forget that his brother has abandoned him just as his parents did. Ricky likes the fort because he is grudgingly accepted there. Since it was his discovery in the first place, the rest of the boys don’t try to exclude him from their activities.

Mitchell forms an attachment to the fake fort as well as the real one and spends time in the woods where he can feel at peace. Jason uses the fort as a refuge for the embattled cereus cactus over which his parents are fighting. He gives it a quiet home underground. In C.J.’s case, the bunker may have saved his life since he can stay there to heal from the many injuries his stepfather has inflicted. When his mother makes the fateful decision to leave her husband, she also finds refuge there and can be confident that Marcus won’t find her underground. Of course, the fort finally brings all the turmoil of the upper world underground when Jaeger, Luke, and Marcus all arrive there at the same time. Fortunately, their arrival also spells the end of their persecution of those who hid in the fort in the first place. The fort ultimately brings the trouble in their lives to an end.