Movie Review: Divergent

The screen adaptation of  the first novel in Veronica Roth's immensely popular Divergent series was thrilling and faithful to the book. The movie, directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist) has a solid cast that includes Shailene Woodley as Beatrice (Tris) Prior, Theo James as Tobias Eaton, Ashley Judd as Tris' mother, Natalie, Ansel Elgort as Tris' brother, Caleb and Kate Winslet was Jeanine Matthews. Rounding out the cast is Maggie Q as the hardened Tori, Zoe Kravitz as Christina and Jai Courtney as the bad-ass Eric.

Divergent tells the story of post-apocalyptic Chicago, a city isolated from the rest of the country by an enormous fence designed to keep whatever is left, outside. Inside the city, the population is organized into factions based on virtues. At the age of sixteen, young people chose which faction they will belong too in an initiation ceremony. This ceremony takes place after they have undergone testing to see which faction they show an aptitude for. Beatrice Prior's test is inconclusive because she demonstrates an aptitude for three factions, Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless. This means that Beatrice can overcome her fears and that she cannot be controlled like most of her fellow citizens. She is warned not to tell anyone because she is considered "divergent" and that she must hide within a faction.

Believing herself not worthy of staying with Abnegation, at her choosing ceremony, Beatrice picks the Dauntless faction and leaves her family to begin initiation into this faction. The initiation process is cruel and physically taxing, but Beatrice who now goes by the name of Tris, finds an ally in Four who is one of the Dauntless leaders. Four sees that Beatrice is both brave and selfless and he begins to help her train to move up the ranks. As romance begins to blossom between Four and Tris, they discover that their factioned society is breaking down with the Erudite faction accusing Abnegation of mismanaging the government.

In an attempt to remove Abnegation from their position of control, Jeanine Matthews, leader of the Erudites, uses an mind control serum that causes the Dauntless warriors, who believe they are in a simulation, to attack the Abnegation faction. Because they are divergent, Tris and Four are not affected. Instead they must now try to stop the wholesale slaughter of an entire faction.

Discussion

Divergent: The Movie provides fans of the novels a realistic means to visually experience the Divergent world author Veronica Roth created in her novel, showing a ruined Chicago with vast abandoned areas, partially destroyed buildings and a rejuvenated city center. Director Neil Burger does an good job of portraying life in ruined Chicago with its five factions, showing how each group dress and how their lives are lived so separately from one another. In the novel, this kind of detail is spread out through the story, but in the movie it's immediately apparent.

While the entire cast give strong performances and Shailene Woodley was surprisingly good as Tris, Theo James in particular stood out as Dauntless trainer, Four. James' solid effort proves he's more than just a pretty face and he almost steals the spotlight in this movie. James did all of his own stunts.

The screenplay is well done too, as it effectively showcases Tris' development from a shy, awkward teenager unsure about her future, into a brave and selfless young woman who begins to assert her "divergence" to challenge the status quo. This leads to plenty of action, romance, and tragedy. Completing this solid effort is a diverse soundtrack that is both appealing and enhances the action on the screen.

Divergent as a movie might actually be better than the book. The next movie, Insurgent is slated for release in March, 2015.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth

"To them, the people in our city are just containers of genetic material --just GD's valuable for the corrected genes they pass on, and not for the brains in their heads or the hearts in their chests."

The final novel in the Divergent trilogy picks up right where Insurgent left off. Tris, Christina and Cara are prisoners inside the Erudite headquarters from where Evelyn now rules the city. Tobias (Four) Eaton is not a prisoner but his mother (Evelyn) suspects him of being a traitor. The story is now told by Tris and Tobias.

Tris now knows that an ancestor on her father's side, Edith Prior made the video that revealed the origin and purpose of the factions in the city. She states that the inheritance her ancestor passed on to her is "...freedom from the factions, and the knowledge that my Divergent identity is more important than I could have known. My existence is a signal that we need to leave this city and offer our help to whoever is outside it."  Tris needs to see what's outside the fence.

Tobias visits Tris, Christina and Cara and tells them that Evelyn has the city on lockdown and doesn't believe that they should help the people who put them in the city. He warns the three women that Evelyn will be using truth serum and if it works, they will be convicted as traitors.

 After questioning under the truth serum, which she knows how to manipulate, Tris is set free by Evelyn. Cara and Christina are exonerated.

The factions are now dismantled, citizens are encouraged to mix the clothing of all the factions, no more than four members of a faction may live together, and the boundaries of the city are patrolled by the factionless to ensure no one leaves. Former faction members must move closer to the Erudite building. Evelyn tells Tobias that they have learned that there is a rebel organization within the factionless that wants to leave the city. This rebel faction is called Allegiant because they believe that people should live in factions and that they are allied with the original purpose of the city to send Divergent out to help.

Tobias is uncertain as to his mother's motives for telling him about the Allegiant but he tells her he will find out who the Allegiant are. Tobias and Tris meet and discuss the issues they have with honesty and trust, promising each they will do better. After a deadly brawl, Evelyn institutes a curfew with guards patrolling the streets. There will be no more factions and everyone will learn and do the jobs the factionless did on a rotating basis.

Tris is asked to meet with the Allegiant at the abandoned headquarters of Candor. She tells Uriah and Christina that she needs to leave the city because she needs to know who Edith Prior was and she needs to know what is outside the city. At the Allegiant meeting Tris learns that Cara and Johanna Reyes are the leaders of the rebel Allegiant which also includes Susan, Robert, Peter, Uriah, Zeke, Tori, and Christina along with her mother Stephanie and her sister Rose as well as many others.

Cara and Johanna believe in the factions and the Divergent mission directive of Edith Prior to send people outside the city once there is a large Divergent population. They want to overthrow Evelyn and the factionless to re-establish the factions and they also want to investigate outside the city. It is decided that Johanna will attempt to overthrow Evelyn, while Cara will lead a group that includes Christina, Tris, Tobias, Tori, Peter and Uriah to explore beyond the city limits. Tobias rescues Tris's brother Caleb who is slated to be executed in two weeks time as a traitor and they take him with them outside the city.

Traveling in two trucks with Tris, Tobias and Johanna in one with the Christina, Uriah and Caleb in the bed of the truck, while Robert, Peter and Susan travel in the other truck. Johanna reveals that Amity patrolled the outer limit beyond their farms and anyone who traveled past that was given the Abnegation serum to reset their memory. Robert and Johanna drop the others off and return to the city. They don't travel far before they meet up with two people, Zoe and Amar in a large black truck. Amar was Tobias's mentor when he first came to Dauntless but he thought Amar was dead. 

They are taken to a United States government compound, which used to be O'Hare Airport but is now the headquarters of the Bureau of Genetic Welfare. There David, the leader of the Bureau tells them that they have only part of the information. A few centuries early the United States government wanted to encourage certain desirable traits in its citizens, eliminating certain trains like cowardice and dishonesty. They attempted to do this through genetic manipulation but this only created more damaged genes. For example, by eliminating aggression, motivation was removed. 

This resulted in a civil war, called the Purity War, with the loss of almost half the country's population. The Bureau was then formed and "designed experiments to restore humanity to its genetically pure state" The genetically healed humans were called Divergent. Their city was one of these experiments and the most successful one. David relates that "The factions were the attempt to incorporate a 'nurture' element to the experiments." They did not expect the Erudite leader to hunt down the Divergent or for the Divergent to come to the outside world. He also explains that with the use of cameras, they monitored the experiment and watched everything that unfolded in the city. This last revelation shocks all of the Allegiant members but especially Tris because it means they watched while the Dauntless went about under the attack simulation serum murdering people to save their experiment.  

They soon realize that the Bureau is involved in a series of wide-spread sinister experiments which are supposed to repair the genetic damage of the population as a whole. The level of manipulation and deception is so great that the Allegiant who have left the city - which they now know is called Chicago, realize they must act quickly to stop the next step. Will they succeed and what will be the cost?

Discussion

Allegiant is the final book in the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth. The story in Allegiant is told by the alternating narratives of Tris and Tobias. Unfortunately there isn't much difference in the style of the narratives, meaning that it's easy to forget who is telling the story. Roth devotes a great deal of the novel to explaining the history of the city and the new society that Tris and Tobias encounter in order to set up the shocking climax of the novel. While many readers will not like what happens at the end, the dystopian genre is about a dangerous world where all does not necessarily end well.  In this way, Roth has stayed true to the dystopian genre.

Allegiant is an exploration of the themes of identity, forgiveness, and sacrificial love. It also explores the nature of scientific experimentation, asking readers to consider the purpose of scientific experimentation, specifically experimentation on humans and what can happen when the experiment becomes more important than anything else. At the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, Tris and Tobias learn that their city, which they now know is called Chicago, is part of a widespread genetic experiment to create genetic purity with the goal of eliminating wars. The scientists at the Bureau believe that wars are the result of genetic damage and that repairing this damage will lead to genetically pure humans, called Divergent, who are not predisposed to war. This has resulted in a new class system in the Bureau of genetically damaged (GD) and genetically pure (GP) individuals. The GD do the menial tasks while the GP are the scientists and researchers. 

However, it becomes apparent that not everyone believes in this narrative. Matthew who works on the serums for the Bureau tells Tris, "Some of the people here want to blame genetic damage for everything...It's easier for them to accept than the truth, which is that they can't know everything about people, and why they act the way they do."  Juanita (Nita) demonstrates that the premise of the Bureau's entire experiment is incorrect and she proves this with archival footage showing poverty and war from centuries before the Purity War when the population was supposedly genetically pure. Tris immediately has reservations when she learns of the history of the Bureau and the experiments and this is only further solidified when she visits the Fringe and sees the tremendous poverty there. She confronts Amar about war existing before the Purity War, but he tells her that if this were the case the Bureau would know about it. This tells Tris that he is either being lied to or misinformed. When she asks if they ever help the poor people in the Fringe he replies that such help is only a band aid solution and "that the best way to help our world is to fix its genetic deficiencies."  To Tris the Bureau's focus on fighting genetic damage in the face of such poverty is immoral. 

It becomes clear to Tris, when the Bureau's Council discusses the Allegiant uprising in Chicago, that their entire experimentation has become grossly unethical. David, leader of the Bureau decides to use the "memory serum virus" to reset the experiment; this means widespread memory erasure for everyone in the cities. Tris is horrified at this plan. "...They want to stop a revolution, not to save lives, but to save their precious experiment...why do they believe they have the right to rip peoples memories, their identities, out of their heads..."  Earlier, when Nita was explaining  the reality of the experiments, she tells Tris and Tobias,  "their entire lives erased, against their will, for the sake of solving a genetic damage 'problem' that doesn't actually exist." Tris remembers what Johanna told her that when a person's memories are removed, this changes who they are. David sees the people in the cities as "damaged" and that, without considering other alternatives, he is willing to harm them. It is clear the scientists in the Bureau have lost sight of the goal of science, to be in the service of mankind, and not to enslave it. Instead of working to help those impoverished and to stop crime they are working on a problem that doesn't exist. 

All of this sets up Tris, Tobias and the others to make the difficult decision between two terrible choices; to allow the Bureau to erase the memories of those in Chicago and elsewhere, or to erase the memories of the scientists in the Bureau and give them the truth about humans,  "that human nature is complex, that all our genes are different, but neither damaged nor pure." It means doing to the Bureau what they know is wrong in order to achieve a greater good. They rationalize their choice as the only way to stop the evil that the Bureau is doing, because as Tris states, "... this would be so much easier if we were dealing with a completely different set of people who could actually see reason. Then we might be able to find a balance between protecting the experiments and opening themselves up to other possibilities."  One may not do an evil act in order to prevent another evil, even if it is a greater evil.  Unfortunately, there are not always easy solutions.

Allegiant explores the theme of identity. After the reveal of what their city was, a long-running genetic experiment, Tris notes, "Just after my mother died, I grabbed hold of my Divergence like it was a hand outstretched to save me. I needed that word to tell me who I was when everything else was coming apart around me. But now I'm wondering if I need it anymore, if we ever really need these words, "Dauntless,"  "Erudite,"  "Divergent," "Allegiant," or if we can just be friends or lovers or siblings, defined instead by the choices we make and the love and loyalty that binds us. " 

In the Bureau, people are divided into genetically damaged and genetically pure. For Tobias, who is now labelled genetically damaged, he struggles with his self worth but Tris tells him this doesn't matter to her because it doesn't change who he is. 

Tris Prior is the central character in the Divergent trilogy. Roth has crafted an intelligent, courageous character who is also vulnerable. As her world devolves into conflict, Tris finds herself struggling to find her place of belonging because she doesn't fit into any of the factions and therefore, her identity remains confusing.  It is a theme common to many young adult novels. She grows throughout the three novels, gradually maturing through her mistakes and in her relationships with others. She learns to forgive, and more importantly to love even if it means dying. 

When Tobias doesn't listen to Tris and sides with Nita, causing Uriah his life, she is angry that yet again he hasn't trusted her. However Tris begins to look at Tobias and try to understand how the abuse by his father Marcus and the abandonment by his mother Evelyn has affected him. "I was right to say that he was desperate, desperate for a connection to Evelyn, desperate not to be damaged, but I never thought about how those things were connected. I don't know how it would feel, to hate your own history, and to crave love from the people who gave that history to you at the same time. How have I never seen the schism inside his heart? How have I never realized before that for all the strong, kind parts of him, there are also hurting, broken parts. Caleb told me that our mother said there was evil in everyone, and the first step to loving someone else is to recognize that evil in ourselves, so we can forgive them. So how can I hold Tobias's desperation against him, like I'm better than him, like I've never let my own brokenness blind me?"  Tris realizes that if she and Tobias are to stay together, they will have to forgive one another again and again. 

While Tris can find the empathy that leads her to forgive Tobias for his lack of trust in her, forgiving her brother Caleb for his betrayal is much more difficult.  It is only when she sees Caleb as the brother he is, "smart and enthusiastic and observant, quiet and earnest and kind." that she knows for certain she can't deliver him to his own execution in the Bureau. She has forgiven him for betraying her to Jeanine Matthews so completely that she offers her life in place of his. Tris recognizes that she doesn't belong to any faction but that she belongs to those she loves.  "I don't belong to Abnegation, or Dauntless, or even the Divergent....I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me -- they, and the love and loyalty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever would."

Author Veronica Roth seems to have struggled to craft her characters fully until Allegiant. Readers were introduced to those characters in Divergent, but that novel focused on the world-building aspect of the story.  Insurgent was so action-driven, the reader never got the chance to feel invested in any of the characters, many of whom died. In Allegiant we finally get some depth to Tris, Tobias, Caleb, Marcus and Evelyn. It is this depth that makes Tris's death so tragic, because the reader has come to admire her courage and her determination to do what is right. It's not the ending the reader wants.

Allegiant is a lengthy novel, but definitely an easier read than its predecessor, Insurgent. The more linear story line, the filling in of the back story and the addition of only a few new characters make Allegiant a mostly enjoyable read with a truly heart-breaking ending.

Book Details:
Allegiant by Veronica Roth
Katherine Tegen Books    2013
526 pp.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

At the conclusion of Divergent, Jeanine Matthews, leader of the Erudite faction has used a serum containing a transmitter to create a simulation that causes Dauntless soldiers to attack and murder members of the Abnegation faction.

Tris Prior and Tobias Eaton were not affected by the simulation because they are Divergent - able to know they are in a simulation and therefore not be controlled. To avoid being discovered they accompany their Dauntless friends to the city but are captured. 

However, Matthews knows that the Divergent are not affected by the serum. The Divergent, most of whom inexplicably come from Abnegation, do not respond to the simulations, so she needs a way to either remove them or control them. 

To control the Divergent, Matthews has created a new serum that allows the person to act independently but still confuse friend with enemy. She injects this into Tobias who immediately attempts to kill Tris. Matthews has Tris sent to be murdered but she is rescued by her mother who it turns out was a Dauntless and is also Divergent. Natalie reveals to Tris that her father, her brother Caleb, and Marcus have escaped the mass murder and are hiding in the basement of Abnegation headquarters. Tris's mother sacrifices herself so Tris can escape and once treated by her father for her wounds, she sets out to destroy the computers running the simulation. 

To do that she had to go to the Dauntless headquarters where her father sacrifices himself to save her. Tris also finds Peter who tells her he was kicked out of the simulation. Tris manages to bring Tobias out of the simulation and he is able to stop it and steal the hard drive containing the data from the program. While the Dauntless must now deal with what they've done, Tris, Tobias, his father Marcus, and Peter flee to the Amity farms.

Insurgent picks up exactly where Divergent left off. The five fugitives are on a train that takes them to the Amity headquarters outside the city. There, they hope to secure the Amity faction's help. However, the Amity, under the direction of Johanna Reyes, decide to remain impartial and to establish their faction headquarters as a safe house for all factions provided that there are no weapons and no fighting or discussion of the current conflict. This is mainly because the Erudite and Amity factions work closely together.

Tris overhears a conversation between Marcus and the leader of Amity, Johanna that reveals there is some kind of secret information that the Abnegation were entrusted with. Jeanine attacked the Abnegation faction to steal this information, in order to destroy it. Marcus refuses to reveal the nature of this secret information to Johanna. When Tris tells Tobias what she's overheard, he dismisses it as his father exaggerating. Tris also learns that Marcus is determined to obtain this information back from Jeanine but is rejected when she offers her help. 

Peter attempts to steal the hard drive from the simulation computer from Tris which leads to a fight between the two of them. Tobias and the Amity stop the fight allowing Tobias to retrieve the hard drive. Tris is taken away and injected with "peace serum" which makes her silly. Johanna tells Tobias that because they have broken the agreement with Amity they will not be able to stay. He accuses Johanna and the Amity faction of working with the Erudite under the pretense of neutrality and that they will be gone in two days but will not be taking Peter with them. She tells him to avoid the bread.

But before Tris and the rest of the Divergent can leave, the Amity compound is raided by members of the Erudite faction with the help of Dauntless traitors. Tris destroys the hard drive and she, Tobias and the rest of the Abnegation change into Amity clothing and try to hide. However, Tobias is discovered by a Dauntless, setting off a shoot-out. Only Tris, Tobias, Caleb and an Amity woman named Susan manage to escape through the cornfields and back through the fence.

When these four follow the train tracks into the city, they find themselves confronted by the factionless (those who failed their initiation into a faction) who are led by Tobias' mother, Evelyn Eaton. From Edward who survived with one eye, Tris learns that most of the factionless are Dauntless, Erudite, then Candor, with a few Amity. The Dauntless faction is now fractured with half of the faithful going to Erudite and half with Candor. What is left of Abnegation is now with the factionless. Evelyn has been tracking the location of the Divergent in the city, in the factionless safe houses. The Abnegation, who had been providing food to the factionless prior to the attack were test the factionless because they believed they had the highest number of Divergent - those who think differently and therefore are more likely to fail their initiation. She is concerned that the Erudite who are now looking for more bodies to control, will look to the factionless next, both for bodies to fight with and also to eliminate the Divergent. Evelyn wants to know how many Divergent they have so they know who can resist the simulation. Evelyn has her own goals however; she wants to destroy the Erudite, form a new government and a new society, one without factions. And to achieve that she is willing to destroy whatever is necessary to achieve this goal.

Evelyn reveals to Tris that her father was born into the Erudite faction and left it to become Abnegation. He grew up knowing Jeanine Matthews as their parents were friends. Tris realizes this might be true as her father never spoke about his childhood and seemed to hate the Erudites.

Tobias and Tris decide to go to the Candor faction at the "Merciless Mart" where they are arrested and meet the faction's leader Jack Kang. While at the Candor faction, both Tobias and Tris are interrogated under the influence of truth serum. However, while there, the Dauntless traitors raid Candor headquarters, searching for Divergent with the intent of bringing two back to study and killing all other Divergent they can find. This assault is unsuccessful mainly due to Tris and Tobias's intervention. Tris manages to save Will's sister, Cara.  Despite this, Kang wishes to negotiate a peace treaty with the Dauntless and Erudite factions. Tris and Tobias realize they cannot attack the Dauntless traitors and the Erudite factions without Candor's help, so they decide to try to enlist the factionless.

When Kang meets with Matthew's representative, Max, he is told that Candor is disposable since they provide nothing useful to the Erudites. Instead he is ordered to turn over the Dauntless leader Eric as well as the Divergent and provide the names of those who were not injected with simulation serum. Believing Matthews is somewhere nearby, Tris sets out to try and locate her but before she can do that, Lynn shoots Max. Realizing that they are no longer safe at the Candor headquarters, Tris and Tobias leave and return to Dauntless headquarters. Tobias, who is now leader of the Dauntless meets with his mother Evelyn. Evelyn agrees to form an alliance with Dauntless provided they are given a place in the new government after the Erudite are destroyed.

When Jeanine Matthews threatens to kill a Dauntless every two days unless one of the Divergent surrenders to Erudite headquarters, Tris decides to turn herself in. Jeanine Matthews is desperate to learn why the Divergent do not respond to the simulation serum and therefore cannot be controlled. She never dreamed of getting the strongest Divergent but with Tris she hopes she can learn how to control them. An MRI scan of Tris's brain reveals a large lateral prefrontal cortex and Jeanine decides that the newest serum should deal with that aspect. Despite the experiments, Tris cannot be controlled by Jeanine. Tobias enters the compound not to rescue Tris but to learn the location of the Erudite control rooms so when they attack they can shut down the simulations. He tells her that will be in two weeks when she is scheduled to be executed. and she is eventually helped to escape. Tris also meets her brother Caleb who it turns out has been a traitor. When Jeanine fails to learn how to control Tris, she schedules her execution, but with the help of Peter, both Tris and Tobias escape.

Marcus finally decides to reveal to Tris the information that Jeanine Matthews stole from Abnegation. He tells her that a week before the simulation attack, the Abnegation leaders decided to reveal the information they had, to everyone but they needed the help of the Erudites to do so. Instead, because o Jeanine's simulation resulting in the Dauntless attack on Abnegation, they were not able to do so. Marcus tells her that they were placed here for a specific purpose. Marcus says he cannot tell Tris what the information is because she will not believe him. Tris also learns that her mother was trying to retrieve that information from Matthews but chose instead to save her. Marcus asks her to help him, but helping Marcus means betraying Tobias who along with his mother Evelyn, are planning to attack the Erudite and destroy them. For Marcus however, retrieving this information is more important than any attack to destroy the Erudite.

Can Tris retrieve this important information before it is destroyed forever by the attack on the Erudite headquarters? And just what is the information that is so important that Tris' mother and father died trying to retrieve it? What they learn will change the path of the people of Chicago forever.

Discussion

Insurgent is the second novel in the Divergent trilogy and picks up immediately where the first book ended.  It is a very lengthy read (over 500 pages) and probably could have used better editing. It also introduces so many new characters that a cast of characters placed at the front of the novel would have been helpful. To that end Roth has realized that this was problematic and has created a webpage  for readers listing the characters in Divergent and providing a summary of the end of that novel.

Insurgent is explores the themes of conflict and loyalty. There is conflict between each of the factions, even within the Amity faction who are supposed to love peace and live somewhat pastoral lives. There is unresolved conflict between Tobias and both his parents; Marcus for his cruelty and Evelyn for her abandonment. There is conflict between Tris and her brother Caleb who supports the Erudite faction. 

Ironically, it is the division of society into personality characteristics which fosters conflict and ultimately civil war. For example, the Dauntless who are fearless and strong will see all other factions as physically weak. The Erudite who honor the acquisition of knowledge will see other factions as ignorant. Those who fail their initiation and become factionless, living on the margins of society are despised by all. Although the factions are all supposed to work together, their society is simply another form of class, creating conflict and tension because it highlights differences and not commonalities.

The theme of loyalty is highlighted in the division of factions as various characters switch allegiances. Tori and Zeke, believed to be Dauntless traitors show up at Candor revealing they were gathering information and helping Erudite defectors. Tris's brother has been pretending to be Candor but eventually reveals that he has always been faithful to the Erudite faction. Peter has become a Dauntless traitor, yet helps Tris escape from Jeanine Matthews. The ultimate test of loyalty is set up between Tris, Tobias and Marcus, creating intense inner conflict for Tris. 

Tris loves Tobias and wants to be with him but she must choose between being loyal to Tobias or being loyal to the pursuit truth. Tobias believes dealing with the Erudite is more important than learning the truth about their society.  Despite having no reason to trust Tobias's father, Marcus, Tris decides to help him find the information Jeanine has because she knows that her mother died trying to obtain that information and she wants to "...accomplish the goal she failed to achieve."  Ultimately, her gamble pays off, when the file is shown to all after the attack on the Erudite building.

Roth also begins to explore the concept of evil but doesn't give it much depth in this novel. When Tris tells Peter what he's doing is evil, he responds "Evil depends on where you're standing." implying that it is a relative concept. 

Roth has fashioned a strong bur realistic female protagonist. She is a complex mixture of strength and weakness. Physically she is very strong, but emotionally Tris is vulnerable. She obviously suffers from post-traumatic stress as she tries to deal with killing her friend Will while he was under the simulation, the death of her parents, and the fact that many of her new faction, Dauntless have murdered innocent Abnegation while under the simulation. "For the first time I feel like I understand Al. I am tired of being Tris. I have done bad things. I can't take them back, and they are a part of who I am. Most of the time, they seem like the only thing I am."  Eventually she comes to realize that people are not good or bad but they are a mixture of both. Tris herself notes later on that Marcus, despite having done cruel and evil things, is not all evil. "Cruelty does not make a person dishonest, the same way bravery does not make a person kind. Marcus is not good or bad, but both." 

There are several week points in the the plot of Insurgent. Why do Tobias, the Dauntless and factionless want to wait two weeks to attack the Erudite headquarters, especially since Jeanine has learned from him the location of the factionless safe houses? Why would he allow Jeanine to experiment and torture Tris for that length of time? Although this ends up being redundant in light of what happens, the entire plan doesn't make sense. One thing the novel does not really address is the effect on the Dauntless soldiers who committed mass murder while under Jeanine's simulation serum. The only character who seems to experience remorse is Tris who is so traumatized by having to kill her friend Will, that she cannot handle a gun and freezes in situations requiring her to do so. 

It also puzzling that Jeanine Matthews would not have destroyed the information she had on her computer from the very beginning, especially if it would prevent her from achieving her goal of a new government. She had to know who Edith Prior was, she had to know what being Divergent meant and that the Abnegation survivors knew about the file and would be determined to retrieve it at any cost. If Jeanine Matthews wanted to set up a new government, the most logical action would have been to destroy that file which was the only evidence of the origin of the factions.

The book ends with the revelation of what that information was; the people of Chicago were placed in the destroyed city, which is fenced off and completely isolated from the rest of the world. This new society was formed based on attributes such as sacrifice, candor, intelligence and divided into factions. They were to stay isolated until those who were flexible and open minded became numerous then they were to come back to the parent society and help save that society which was riddled by war. Those people were to be called Divergent. It's apparent that this experiment has failed. The video containing this information was made by Amanda Ritter who moved into the colony and changed her name to Edith Prior.  It is as Tris's mother told her "Human beings can be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us."

Overall, Insurgent was a good read but far too long. Two hundred pages could have easily been edited from this book without much loss to the plot and this would have created a better flow to the storyline. It will be interesting to see how Roth evolves the storyline in the third book. It is likely we will see Tris and Tobias and the rest of the characters work to determine just what lies outside the fence. 

The third and final book in this series will be released in the Fall of 2013.

Book Details:
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Katherine Tegen Books   2012
525 pp.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent is an exciting dystopian novel filled with action, mystery and romance. 

In sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior's world, almost everyone is divided into factions. It was decided to organize society in this manner decades ago because people were convinced that flaws in human personality were the cause of strife and evil. So people divided into five "factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray." 

Those five factions are Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless and Erudite. Amity are caretakers who run farms and hospitals and wear either yellow or red.  Abnegation are selfless, are the faction that form the government and wear plain gray clothing. Candor value honesty and wear black and white.  Erudites value knowledge and must wear at least one item of blue clothing. Dauntless who are pierced, tattooed, value bravery and wear all black. 

At the age of sixteen, each person takes an aptitude test to help them determine which faction they belong to. They then must pass through an initiation process which, if successful, sees them joining their chosen faction. If they do not, they live on the periphery of society as factionless - poor and doing menial jobs.

Beatrice lives with her brother Caleb who is not quite a year older than her and her parents, Natalie and Andrew.  Most people stay with the faction they are born into but Beatrice is not sure that she can remain in Abnegation. She feels she is not selfless enough to be part of her family's faction. Since both Beatrice and Caleb turn sixteen in the same year, they must both take their aptitude tests.

According to Tori, the Dauntless woman who administers her test, Beatrice's test results are perplexing and inconclusive. Instead of showing an aptitude for one faction, Beatrice shows an equal aptitude for Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless and is labelled Divergent. She is warned not share this result with anyone because it is dangerous and she later learns that "Divergents" are in great danger of being murdered.

At dinner that night, Beatrice's father talks about the report Jeanine Matthews has released about his coworker, Marcus. Two years earlier, Marcus's son Tobias left Abnegation for Dauntless because of his father's cruelty. It is rare for people to leave Abnegation. Beatrice's father is angry about the report, one of many the Erudite's have released attacking Abnegation. He believes the the Erudite faction's desire for knowledge is a "lust for power". It is a council of fifty representatives from Abnegation that rule the city.

At her Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice chooses to be a part of the Dauntless faction while her brother shockingly chooses Erudites. Immediately she leaves her family and begins her initiation into the Dauntless faction. Beatrice shortens her name to Tris and begins a brutal and exhausting initiation consisting of three stages. Her initiation begins immediately as she has to dump on a fast moving train that takes her and the other Dauntless out of the city core. Tris is the first one to jump into what seems to be a bottomless pit but which has a net at the bottom. She quickly notices that there are no elderly Dauntless. 

Eric one of five Dauntless leaders tells them they will be in training from eight until six every day and that they cannot leave the compound alone but must be accompanied by another Dauntless. There are nine Dauntless initiatives: Al, Peter, Will, Christina, Edward, Molly, Drew, Myra and Tris. There are eleven Dauntless-borns.  They are told that Dauntless transfers and initiates are kept separate but that four initiates will be cut at the end of stage one. The rest will be cut after the final test. They are all ranked, to determine what job they will be assigned and that only the top ten make it into the faction. Those who don't make the cut will live factionless. 

Tris, being the smallest of the Dauntless initiates, struggles through the first stage of the training. Almost immediately she catches the interest of an eighteen-year-old Dauntless leader named Four who is impressed with her bravery and selflessness. But she is also discovers that while Four can be concerned and caring, Eric,one of five Dauntless leaders, is sadistic and evil. She also notices there is a tension between Four and Eric who was from the Erudite faction. 

On Visiting Day, Tris learns from her mother that they are not able to visit Caleb because the Erudites have banned Abnegation members from entering their compound. Her mother states that the tension between the two factions is very high. Tris's mother Natalie meets Four who assures her that Tris is doing well but when Natalie remarks that Four looks familiar he becomes uncomfortable. A more disturbing encounter occurs between Will's sister Cara and Tris's mother, when Cara accuses Natalie's faction - Abnegation of hoarding food. Even more distressing to Tris is the discovery that her mother seems to know a lot about the Dauntless initiation and she also seems to know about being "Divergent". She warns Tris to be careful in the second stage of her initiation and to never use the world divergent. She also asks Tris to visit her brother Caleb after her initiation and to ask him to research the simulation serum. As the visit with her mother ends, Tris realizes her mother is Dauntless.

Tris makes the first cut, ranked fifth after Edward is attacked and quits. The second part of the initiation involves being injected with serum that forces a person to confront their fears. The first hallucination is very traumatic but Four tells her that she got out of her hallucination three times faster than the other initiates. He also reveals that the Dauntless training was overhauled about six years ago to make it more brutal and vicious. 

Meanwhile outside of Dauntless, Tris learns that the conflict between Abnegation and Erudite is ramping up. In the dorm, a group of initiates reads an article questioning why Andrew Prior's children would abandon Abnegation for other factions and blames this on him being abusive. This infuriates Tris who believes that the Erudite faction is calling for the overthrow of the government.

During another fear simulation, Tris is able to manipulate the simulation. Four tells her this marks her as Divergent and that he will erase the recording of it. But he tells her not to do this again in the simulations as she will end up murdered. Seeking out answers, Tris visits Tori in the tattoo studio for answers. Tori tells her that being Divergent means she is aware during the simulation that it is not real and therefore can manipulate it and even change it. She tells Tris that the Dauntless leaders do not know about this yet but if they find out they will kill her. Tori also states that the people who know this are either those who want her dead or those who are Divergent. This now makes Tris question if Four is also Divergent.  

More articles are released by Erudites about how Abnegation is withholding fruit and luxury cars and questioning why only one faction should be running the government. Instead they want a democratically elected system. Tris also discovers that the Erudites are searching for Divergents who are considered rebels, 

The rankings after four simulations show Tris leading Peter by a wide margin and he's furious. The third stage of the initiation is the fear landscape where each person's fear will be present but they will know it is a simulation and must deal with those fears by either calming down or facing the fear directly. They will do this test in front of the Dauntless leaders. Tris is attacked by Al, Peter and Drew who try to force her over the railing by the chasm. She is saved by Four who now warns Tris to be more careful about what she says and does, and that she is being watched. 

Four and Tris's relationship begins to blossom from initiate to romance. Four decides to let Tris experience his fear landscape where she learns that he has only four fears (hence his name) and that his real name is Tobias. She also learns that Tobias' father, Marcus, who is leader of the Abnegation faction did physically abuse his son as the Erudites claimed. Her helping Four through his fears begins to change their relationship. 

When Tris fails her first fear practice test, she flees Dauntless to see Caleb in the Erudite faction. Their meeting does not go well but she does give her brother the request their mother made. Tris is forcibly taken to see Jeanine Matthews who notes her unusual test results. Tris recognizes Jeanine's voice as the one she heard talking to Eric at Dauntless, telling him they must find the Divergents. Jeanine is the one who has developed the aptitude tests and claims that she needs to know why her results were not recorded. Tris realizes that Jeanine has probably also developed the simulation serum too and wonders why it matters that she can manipulate it.

Then Four tells Tris that he has discovered the Erudites are planning to attack the Abnegation faction. The reports being released by the Erudites are intended to stir up dissention.  Tris realizes that the Erudites do not have weapons but instead plan to attack Abnegation by using the Dauntless soldiers. It isn't until after the initiation is over and everyone has been injected with a special transmitter that Tris comes to the realization of how the Dauntless will be controlled. The transmitters link the mind to a simulation. And she knows that Eric and Max are working with the Erudites to do this. Eventually Tris comes to recognize Eric for who he truly is. "... an Erudite disguised as a Dauntless, a genius as well as a sadist, a hunter of the Divergent." 

That very night Tris awakens to see everyone, blank faced, "brain-dead, obedient, and trained to kill. Perfect soldiers." getting out of their beds, arming and taking the trains into the city.  Both Tris and Tobias, who are Divergent, are able to resist the controlling influence of the serum, but are forced to participate so as to avoid discovery. In horror, Tris realizes that the Dauntless are being sent to attack the Abnegation faction. In the city, Tris watches as Tori kills a man, and hears the "pop" of guns going off throughout the city. 

Tris must now avoid capture and save her family while trying to stop the madness that is now tearing apart life in post-apocalyptic Chicago. It is a mission that will have haunting repercussions for her and those she loves.

Discussion

Divergent is the first novel in a dystopian trilogy by author Veronica Roth. Divergent seems somewhat reminiscent of the Hunger Games trilogy written by Suzanne Collins, with plenty of violence and murder. However, in this dystopia, the characters are older. 

Author Veronica Roth gradually builds the setting for this first novel. The story is set in the post-apocalyptic city of Chicago with mention of several well known landmarks such as Michigan Avenue, the Hancock Building, Millennium Park and the Cloud Gate mirror sculpture known as "the Bean". Vast areas of the city are in ruins. Lake Michigan is now a vast swamp. The city is surrounded by a fence that has a lock on the outside and is guarded by Dauntless soldiers. 

Beatrice Prior is part of a society divided into factions, each with a specific personality type and purpose, in the hopes of preventing further.  Everyone is born into a faction but at the age of sixteen must take an aptitude test to determine which faction they will best belong to. They then must choose to either stay with their family in the faction they were born into or choose another faction. Once in a new faction, that faction is responsible for finishing the education of the new recruits. In Dauntless it is a series of physical tests but a focus on controlling one's fears and acting in spite of them. In Candor, initiates must take a truth serum. Those who fail to complete the initiation into their new faction become factionless and live in poverty on the outskirts of the city in an area that is filled with broken buildings and ruined roads, doing menial jobs. A question remains: why would anyone risk becoming factionless by joining another faction? 

It soon becomes apparent to Beatrice, now named Tris, that something is amiss. First her test results are not normal and she is told she is Divergent but that she should never reveal this because it is dangerous. Tris learns from her father, a member of the ruling Abnegation city council, that the Erudites are spreading lies that they are withholding food from others. Upon her joining the Dauntless faction, Tris realizes its ideals of bravery have become warped. As she goes through her initiation, Tris uncovers what it means to be Divergent, that she can manipulate simulations and that somehow this makes her dangerous, and that the leader of Dauntless is actively hunting down the Divergent. Eventually she uncovers a plot by Jeanine Matthews, leader of the Erudites to wage war on Abnegation using Dauntless soldiers by means of a simulation serum. The resulting attack is devastating to both Tris and her friend and love, Four, whose real name is Tobias.

 

In Divergent, Roth explores what it means to be brave.  This is done as Tris moves through her initiation into Dauntless, a faction that honors bravery. Tris quickly notices that there is a tension between Four and Eric, two of the Dauntless trainers. One of their conflicts is over what it means to be brave. When they begin their fight training, Four and Eric disagree on what constitutes bravery. Four believes that " A brave man acknowledges the strength of others." Eric disagrees. He tells Four that "A brave man never surrenders."  Eric's concept of bravery 

As her initiation and training progress, Tris gradually realizes that the Dauntless faction has become sadistic and depraved, and have lost their noble idea of what bravery is. This is especially evident after Edward who is ranked first, is stabbed in the eye. Tris and Will know who attacked Edward but they believe that telling anyone is useless because acts of bravery are no longer valued in Dauntless. They no longer practice what is written in their faction's manifesto- "We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another." Instead, a Dauntless who stands up for a weaker person is cruelly punished. This leads Tris to wonder if the faction system is falling apart. "Maybe Dauntless was formed with good intentions, with the right ideals and the right goals. But it as strayed far from them. And the same is true of Erudite, I realize. A long time ago, Erudite pursued knowledge and ingenuity for the sake of doing good. Now they pursue knowledge and ingenuity with greedy hearts. I wonder if the other factions suffer from the same problem."  All except Four participate in this cruelty. Despite this corruption, Tris hopes she can save the faction and reclaim its original values. 

But Tris is further disgusted when Eric calls Al's suicide an act of bravery. "Courageous? Courageous would have been admitting weakness and leaving Dauntless, no matter what shame accompanied it. Pride is what killed Al, and it is the flaw in every Dauntless heart. It is in mine." She tells Four that the Dauntless have warped and ruined Al. 

After sharing his fear landscape with Tris, Four tells her that he believes there is little difference between selflessness and bravery. People who are selfless forget themselves in danger, to save others. Tris's mother exemplifies true selflessness and bravery when she sacrifices herself so that Tris can escape. Tris contrasts her mother's death with that of Al. "My mother's death was brave. I remember how calm she was, how determined. It isn't just brave that she died for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, without hesitation, and without considering another option."  Later on Tris tells her father that she needed to join Dauntless to learn how to be selfless AND brave.

Divergent also makes a statement about how humans govern themselves: no matter what system used to govern humans, whether it be political or otherwise, it will always be flawed. When Tris is rescued by her mother, she tells Tris "Human beings cannot be good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us." There is no utopia to be found. 

By the end of the novel, a clear antagonist has now been identified: Jeanine Matthews. Tris recognizes this. "Abnegation stood in the way of her desire for power, so she found a way to eliminate it. She didn't have an army, so she found one in Dauntless. She knew that she would need to control large groups of people, so she developed a way to do it with serums and transmitters. Divergence is just another problem for her to solve, and that is what makes her so terrifying -- because she is smart enough to solve anything, even the problem of our existence." 

This first novel in the trilogy provides little of the backstory - how Chicago came to be like this and how the faction system was chosen. There is also a hint that things may not be as they seem. Roth may end up providing this information in latter installments. Readers would have benefited from a map of both the city Tris lived in and also the Dauntless compound. The map would have helped readers understand the layout of the city better including the location of Erudite and Dauntless factions since there were areas of the city which are abandoned. 

Divergent is engaging, having plenty of action, interesting characters, and a touch of romance. Another excellent addition to the growing canon of young adult dystopian novels. 

Book Details:
Divergent by Veronica Roth
HarperCollins Publishers: Katherine Tegen Books 2011
487 pages