Earlier this year I finished the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins and was looking for more dystopian, science fiction type books. Divergent by Veronica Roth was a series that was recommended by quite a few people, so I gave it a try. It turned out to be pretty good, a thought provoking novel. A very quick read as it was only 576 pages long. I could not put the book down! I enjoyed the fact that the author presented the protagonist as a strong female character. Other novels such as the Twilight series don't present the female characters as strong, like Bella Swan, the damsel in distress who needs to be saved. There is no supernatural element to Divergent, though much better than Twilight.
Divergent is narrated by a sixteen year old (Beatrice Prior) who lives in a dystopian Chicago world. Basically, there are five different factions that people are born into; Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Erudite. Each faction represents a different quality that people focus on. The Abnegation faction is selfless, they place more importance on others and often find themselves serving others. They wear a lot of plain clothing and do their best to make sure they go unnoticed by others. Those in Amity focus on keeping the peace, they are very calm and easily agree on a variety of issues. They wear bright clothing, such as red and yellow. Candor is the most honest faction of all. They are honest to the point where it hurts the feelings of others. Candor people can be seen wearing black and white clothing to represent the view that everything is black and white, no grey area necessarily. Dauntless are brave, fearless people who stop at nothing to conquer a fear. Initiates who belong to the Dauntless faction can be found wearing all black in addition to being pierced and tattooed. Last but not least, the Erudite are known for their intelligence, they are always searching for more knowledge and information. The statement, "Knowledge is power" could not be more true with this faction. Erudite people can be seen wearing blue to represent their faction. Each faction also has a symbol that represents them. Abnegation's is two hands joined together, Candor's is a scale (weighing the truth), Amity's is a tree, Erudite's is an eye, and the Dauntless faction's is fire.
When one reaches the age of sixteen, they must take an aptitude test, which is not a typical paper and pencil test, but rather one where they are under a simulation. The aptitude test does not tell them which faction they have to choose, it merely tells them which one they are best suited for. Beatrice's test reveals that she is Divergent, as she has an aptitude for more than one faction (Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite). Being Divergent is considered extremely dangerous, so the proctor of her test has to manually enter that her aptitude test resulted in Abnegation. Divergence means that they can manipulate the simulations. This is dangerous because the people in charge want to make sure they can keep their faction members under control, and divergent people are known for not being easy to control and thinking differently than others. Faction members are supposed to have an analogous mindset. Straying from that spells trouble for the leaders. The day after that is the Choosing Ceremony, where Beatrice and her classmates must cut their hand and put their blood over the symbol of the faction they decide to spend the rest of their life in. Immediately afterwards, they become initiates in their new faction and must pass a number of tests or activities, which is extremely competitive. This is required of them in order to become a true member of the faction. If they don't pass or complete the requirements, they are doomed to become a factionless member of society. The factionless is not a place they want to be, as they are looked down on. Beatrice Prior transfers from Abnegation to Dauntless, and there she endures a lot of emotional, physical, and mental stress to test her capabilities as a Dauntless initiate. The story explains most of the Dauntless tests and explores her relationship with a Dauntless instructor known as Four. Later on, the two factions Abnegation and Erudite engage in a war because Abnegation has information that the Eurdite absolutely must get their hands on. The leader of Erudite (Jeanine) schedules an execution for Beatrice (Tris) Prior because she figures out that she is Divergent, which Jeanine can't stand, as this puts her in a position where she may be out of control. Whether they win the war or not may be found out in Divergent, or possibly the second installment to the trilogy. The second novel is entitled Insurgent, and the final book, Allegiant is scheduled to come out October 22, 2013. The movie adaptation for the novel is supposed to come out March 21, 2014, which will feature Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Ashley Judd, Zoe Kravitz, and Theo James.
If I was born into one of the factions, I believe I would be born into Abnegation because I am known for being selfless, thoughtful, and empathetic towards others. I also love to volunteer, which is what initiates in that faction are required to do. However, like Beatrice Prior in the novel, I'd like to think that I would switch factions and become a member of Dauntless. It would be hard leaving my family, but I like the idea of facing my fears and becoming a stronger person because of it. There are also drawbacks that should be taken into consideration. Though I wouldn't have known much about them if I was changing factions. Those in the Dauntless faction have a tendency not to live very long because after reaching a certain age, their ability to complete tasks causes them to die or become factionless. Dauntless initiates have to successfully complete three different stages in order to become a full-fledged member. Each stage focuses on something different, physical, emotional, and mental ability. The physical aspect tests their proficiency in fighting. Initiates are forced to fight one another to prove what they have learned about fighting from their instructors. In the emotional stage, initiates face their fears in a simulation room. The simulation figures out what each initiate's fears are, a real life scenario under the simulation serum is created and they must either face the fear or calm themselves down enough to leave the simulation. Most people don't realize that they are under a simulation, only Divergent people can adapt and manipulate the simulation. The mental stage is somewhat similar, except initiates are put into their fear landscape, and instead of facing just one fear in the emotional stage, the landscape recognizes every single fear the initiate has. They are forced to conquer their fear, or calm down enough to leave the mental stage of initiation.
Have you read the series? If so, what is your opinion on it? If you were to be born into one the factions which one would you find yourself born into? What do you think your aptitude test reults would be? Also, would you switch factions? If so, which one and why? Any book recommendations?
-Breanne
