After
a terrible war the dystopic society of what we know today as Chicago divided
into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue
they consider the one that could have prevented the war. Each faction values the opposite trait of
that which they blame for causing the war in the first place: 1) Abnegation,
the selfless who blame selfishness; 2) Candor, the honest who blame deceit; 3)
Amity, the peaceful who blame war and fighting for human nature's faults; 4)
Erudite, the intelligent who blame ignorance; and 5) Dauntless, the brave who
blame cowardice.
Every
year the sixteen year-olds in this society must take an aptitude test
determining which faction they are best suited for. Then they must make the most important
decision of their lives: will they remain with their families in the faction they
were born into, or will they forsake their families and transfer to another
faction?
For
Beatrice Prior the decision is more difficult than most. While she loves her family and respects the
way of life of Abnegation, Beatrice has never felt like she truly
belonged. Selflessness had never come
naturally to her, like it is supposed to.
She is naturally curious and sarcastic, totally unacceptable in
Abnegation. When Beatrice’s aptitude
test is inconclusive and shows that she has equal aptitude for three factions
(Abnegation, Erudite and Dauntless) Beatrice is labelled “divergent”. The volunteer destroys Beatrice’s results and
warns her to never reveal this information to anyone, not even her family, as
being divergent endangers her life. There
is, however, no time for further discussion without raising suspicion and
Beatrice is sent home. Confused instead
of reassured, Beatrice has less than 24 hours to make her choice. Will she remain with her family in Abnegation,
or will she transfer; either to Erudite which will embrace her curiosity, or to
Dauntless – the thrill seekers whose total freedom and abandonment has always pulled
at her?
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| If you don't want to know what faction Beatrice chooses, stop reading now |
A
film version of Divergent is currently in the works, and if you have seen any
of the released stills it is quite obvious what Beatrice chooses. My favourite moment in Divergent is during
the choosing ceremony when Beatrice has to choose her faction. Will she perform the ultimate selfless act
and prove herself worthy of Abnegation by staying solely to comfort her
parents? “I am selfish. I am brave”.
Beatrice chooses Dauntless.
 |
| Tris' first look at the Dauntless compound |
Life
in Dauntless is not at all what she expected.
A new life deserves a new name, but unwilling to completely deny her
previous life, Beatrice renames herself Tris.
Once inside the compound the new initiates learn a terrifying truth:
Only the top ten initiates will ultimately become Dauntless, ten will become
factionless, rejected from society and forced to live on the street.
Tris is by far the smallest initiate, physically her chances don’t look
good. Will her bravery be enough to
secure a place in the top ten?
 |
| Tris doing fight training during the first phase of initiation |
Tris’
choice to transfer to Dauntless is considered to be quite radical as Abnegation
transfers to Dauntless are extremely rare – while not as hostile as the relationship
between Abnegation and Erudite, Abnegation and Dauntless can’t seem to see eye
to eye. This complicates Tris’ new life
even more. Members and initiates of
other factions are hostile towards Tris, especially the Dauntless born as they have
little respect for the peaceful and selfless way of life of the Abnegation, which
they interpret as weakness and cowardice.
The Dauntless provides the military defense for all the factions, and the
Abnegation in turn do not approve of violence or weapons, as weapons (even when
used in self-defense) are self-serving.
While
Tris does make some friends among the transfer initiates, she is not secure in
these friendships as her new friends alternate between exploiting what they
know to be her weakness (her physical strength), and deeply resenting her strength
(her mental strength) and progress. When
an unplanned encounter and test of bravery leads to Tris being the only
transfer to befriend Dauntless born initiates and members alike, and enters the
dining hall among Dauntless born who have obviously accepted her into their
ranks, her fellow transfer initiates grow even more resentful and Tris soon
finds herself in danger from friends and foes alike.
Tris
also forms an unlikely friendship with the transfer initiates’ instructor, Four,
even though he seems to have just as much of a problem with her Abnegation
roots as everyone else. While they seem to have a connection, Four’s behaviour is unpredictable.
When he and Tris are alone he is unguarded, compliments her and gives her advice; in
front of the other initiates, though, Four seems to be harder on Tris than any
of the others. Despite this, Tris can't help but react to him. "Then I realise what it is. It's him. Something about him makes me feel like I am about to fall. Or turn to liquid. Or burst into flames". Having spent her life in Abnegation, where couples don't even hold hands, Tris finds her attraction to Four confusing and unnerving. Figuring out what exactly
is going on between her and Four is, however, the least of Tris’ problems.
 |
| Tris and Four |
Abnegation,
despite being peaceful, neutral, and calm, have a fierce ongoing
rivalry with the Erudite. Abnegation is the
faction in charge of the Government, and the Erudite, who seek power, believe
that Abnegation are in fact selfish people who only provide for their own
faction. When Erudite starts releasing
reports heavily critising Abnegation, Tris seems to be the only one onto the
seriousness of the matter. She suspects
that Erudite is planning to overthrow Government and destroy Abnegation. But how can one lone, lowly initiate prove
it? And more importantly, how can she
stop it?
Divergent
by Veronica Roth is the first book in the Divergent Trilogy. The second book, Insurgent is already
available and Allegiant, the final book in the trilogy will be released in
October 2013.
The Divergent trilogy has
frequently been compared to Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games Trilogy. Are
they similar? Yes. Are they on the same level? Not
quite – in my humble opinion. I enjoyed Divergent, but
it doesn’t have the same pull or intensity that I experienced with The
Hunger Games trilogy. While I was reading I enjoyed it, but
once I put the book down I never experienced the urge to get back to reading as
soon as possible. Don’t get me wrong, the book is not bad at all,
and I look forward to the movie (which will be released in 2014) and I will
definitely continue reading the series. It’s just not the best YA
series I’ve ever read. Yet. There is a lot of potential
for this series and I look forward to continuing the story in Insurgent. It is very possible that this series could turn out to be exceptional by the end.
I really like Tris as a
character. While small, she is strong and brave. Tris is
an excellent protagonist for this story and the supporting characters are well
drawn and diverse. Four is also a very interesting character and the progression
of their relationship is very natural and a pleasure to follow.
The film version of Divergent has completed filming and will hit theatres March 2014. Shailene Woodley has been cast as Tris and Theo
James has been cast as Four. Some big
names have jumped on board with this one:
Kate Winslet is playing Erudite leader Jeanine Matthews, and Ashley Judd
is playing Tris’ mother, Natalie. Tris’
father is played by Tony Goldwyn and Tris’ tattoo artist and confidant, Tori, is
played by Maggie Q. An interesting
Hunger Games connection is that Zoë Kravitz, the daughter of Lenny Kravitz who
plays Cinna in the film version of The Hunger Games, is playing Tris’ friend, Christina. I very much look forward to the movie; if the released movie stills are anything to go by it will do the book absolute justice.
 |
| I almost loved it, but not quite |
Product Information:
Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Pages: 487
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2011
ISBN:978-0-00-742042-1
