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
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