Power and Control in Beneath: Information, Resources, and Resistance

Thematic Claim: Control Through Information and Coercion

In Beneath, power is not held by force alone—it is maintained through the manipulation of information, the rationing of resources, and the psychological conditioning of survivors. The society of Haven operates on a system that values compliance above all, using health scores, weather reports, and sector assignments to keep its citizens dependent and divided. Yet the novel also reveals that control is never absolute. Through acts of subterfuge, loyalty, and defiance, characters challenge the authority that seeks to define their lives. The central thematic claim is that in a collapsed world, control operates most effectively not through overt violence but through the silent regulation of bodies, records, and choices.

The Health Score System: Quantifying Worth

Haven’s health-score system is the most pervasive tool of control. Introduced in Chapter 1, it assigns every resident a numerical value based on their medical history. This score determines access to treatment, sector placement, and even the right to eat. When Sasha reflects on her time in the Hospital Ward, she notes that “all care was predicated on health scores.” If a patient’s score drops too low, care is discontinued. This creates a hierarchy where survival is contingent on past illness—a system that punishes vulnerability.

The health score is also used to steer people into sectors: those with high scores are funneled into the Force or Kitchens, while low scores land in Expansion or Sanitation. As Sasha explains, “Expansion and Sanitation were the sectors reserved for the leftovers, people deemed worthless.” The system thus reproduces class divisions under the guise of medical efficiency. By controlling who receives treatment and who is discarded, Haven’s leaders—especially Lyssa Burdon—use the health score as a mechanism of social discipline.

Sasha herself subverts this system. She forges health charts, as revealed in Chapter 37, to protect herself and others. This act of tampering is an attempt to regain agency over a bureaucracy that otherwise dictates her fate. It also becomes the lever Burdon uses to blackmail her later, showing that even resistance can be co-opted by those in power.

Forced Reassignment: The Coup of the Individual

In Chapter 3, Sasha is summoned before Command and forced into Tristian Hayes’s Force unit against her will. Commander Burdon orchestrates this, calling her “Death’s Angel” and remarking that she is “unfazed by death.” The reassignment is presented as a decision based on Sasha’s skills, but it is actually a strategic move: Burdon wants a medic for a dangerous above-ground mission, and she uses the midyear petition system to override Sasha’s choice.

This moment demonstrates how institutional authority can override individual autonomy. Sasha’s protests are dismissed; even Tristian, who had earlier asked her to join him voluntarily, does not defend her right to refuse. Instead, he states, “That is correct,” when Burdon asks if Sasha has physical training. The scene underscores how personal relationships are subordinated to the power structures of Haven. Tristian’s later declaration that Sasha is “my cadet” reinforces the paternalistic control he exercises over her, even as he claims to care for her.

Burdon’s presence in this scene is pivotal. She is described as “the most prominent Command member, known in all sectors,” and her “hawklike” stare conveys her predatory control. The character page for Lyssa Burdon explores her rise to power through manipulation and intimidation. The forced reassignment is a microcosm of her larger strategy: using rules and records to position people where they serve her purposes.

Burdon’s Coup: Public Exposure, Private Bargains

The climax of the power-and-control theme occurs in Chapter 37. Burdon intercepts Sasha and Tristian after their tunnel escape and reveals that she has discovered Sasha’s health-chart tampering. Instead of punishing her outright, Burdon forces Tristian to become her second-in-command and strips Unit Seven of its exploratory status, reassigning them to guard-shack duty. This is a textbook exercise of power: Burdon uses incriminating information to reshape the entire unit’s future.

The epigraph of Chapter 2—Orwell’s line, “Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past”—directly applies here. Burdon controls the records (the health chart evidence) and thus controls the present reality of the unit. She also controls the narrative: she reveals that she had already suspected Sasha and used the data against her. This aligns with the epigraph’s message that control of information equates to control of time and destiny.

Burdon’s coup also involves the hidden network of moles and tunnels. Kaleo—who appears in Chapter 36 as Rumi’s secret collaborator—is part of Terral’s underground network, suggesting that even Burdon’s control is contested from below. The epilogue shows Phoenix (formerly Sasha’s alias) in Expansion, working with Kaleo, who reveals that he and Rumi were collaborators. This hints at a counter-narrative of resistance that operates through hidden channels, using the very structures of Haven to undermine them.

Symbols of Control and Resistance

Several symbols in the novel reinforce the theme of power and control.

Death’s Angel (symbol page): This nickname gives Sasha an aura of power over death, but it also isolates her. The label is a double-edged sword: it protects her from assault (people fear her) but also marks her as dangerous, stripping her of community. The name is a form of control imposed by others, defining her identity before she can define it herself.
The Beast (symbol page): Though not directly mentioned in the provided evidence, the Beast likely represents the raw, uncontrollable side of human nature that Haven’s rigid systems try to suppress. The beast within characters—Sasha’s anger, Tristian’s hidden desires, Burdon’s ambition—threatens the order that authority tries to maintain.
The Key (symbol page): The Key may symbolize access to hidden knowledge or control over locked spaces (the armory, the command room, the pods). Whoever holds the key holds the ability to permit or deny entry, a core function of control.
The Pod Tabitha (symbol page): Sasha’s vision of a gray-eyed woman inside a pod suggests there are secrets beneath Haven that even the leaders may not control. The pod could be a symbol of encrypted memory or hidden truth—something that exists outside the official records and thus resists manipulation.

Complexity and Contradiction

The theme of power and control is not presented as a simple good-versus-evil dichotomy. Characters who hold authority also experience its limits. Tristian, despite his position as unit commander, is ultimately powerless to protect Sasha from Burdon’s machinations. In Chapter 37, he is forced to accept a role that compromises his integrity, and he leaves the unit “in despair.” His earlier insistence that Sasha obey him (“When I give an order, you follow it”) now reads as a fragile performance of authority that cannot withstand Burdon’s superior control.

Sasha, for her part, wields her own form of power. Her marksmanship, learned from her father (Chapter 7), is a skill that commands respect—even Ingrid cannot hide her awe. Yet Sasha’s hatred of humans and her self-isolation are also a retreat from the very connectedness that might challenge Haven’s oppressive structures. Her father taught her to “remember who’s at your back,” but she feels that no one is. The novel thus complicates the idea that resistance is purely heroic; it can be lonely and self-destructive.

Even Burdon is not a simple villain. Her ruthlessness may stem from a genuine belief that only strict control can prevent the total collapse of Haven. The health-score system, cruel as it is, does prioritize the survival of the fittest in a resource-scarce environment. The novel leaves room for the reader to ask whether any form of governance in a post-apocalyptic world can avoid such compromises.

Study Questions and Answers

How does the health-score system function as a tool of social control, and how does Sasha undermine it?
The health-score system determines access to medical care, sector assignment, and resource distribution. By scoring individuals based on illness history, Haven creates a caste system that punishes vulnerability. Sasha undermines it by forging health charts, manipulating her own score and those of others to protect them from reassignment or denial of care.
What role does Lyssa Burdon play in consolidating power, and how does she use information as a weapon?
Burdon is the most powerful member of Command. She uses her knowledge of Sasha’s chart tampering to blackmail Tristian into becoming her second-in-command and to dissolve Unit Seven’s elite status. She controls the narrative around the health scores and weather reports, demonstrating that control of information equals control of people’s lives.
In what ways does the epigraph from Orwell’s 1984 foreshadow the events of the novel?
The epigraph—“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past”—directly applies to Burdon’s manipulation of records. By controlling health charts, she controls the present and future of unit members. The novel also suggests that memory and history (like the true cause of Dr. Kumar’s death) are suppressed to maintain authority.
How does the relationship between Sasha and Tristian reflect the dynamics of power and submission?
Tristian asserts his authority as unit commander, commanding Sasha to obey drills and threatening punishment. Yet he also shows vulnerability by confessing his love for her. Their relationship is fraught with unequal power: Tristian can assign or punish, but he is ultimately subject to Burdon. Sasha resists his authority even while she is drawn to him, creating a tension between personal desire and institutional control.
What do the symbolic elements (Death’s Angel, the Beast, the Key, the Pod Tabitha) reveal about the theme?
Death’s Angel highlights how labels can both empower and isolate. The Beast represents the primal, uncontrollable force that systems try to suppress. The Key suggests control over access and secrets. The Pod Tabitha points to hidden truths that resist official narratives. Together, they show that control is always contested—by symbols of death, by animal instinct, by locked mysteries, and by the survivors who refuse to forget.