Dissecting Divergent
As a Young Adult Christian fantasy writer, I was thrilled when my husband brought home Divergent (even if he got to the book before I did). I heard that it was not wholesome to read, but that response from the Christian community didn’t really surprise me. When I started writing Christian Young Adult fantasy, I found other Christians who were also writing in that same genre. Excited to meet a kindred spirit, I’d gush about the latest fantasy novel and ask if they had read it yet. I’d always get the same response.
“Oh, no. I don’t read anything that isn’t Christian because of all the …” (You can fill in the blank with your choice…swear words, sex scenes, graphic violence, false religions, etc.)
That response always left me feeling weird like there was something wrong with reading a book not written by a Christian, but I didn’t stop reading. Now I’ve reached a place where I see God and Biblical truths in all kinds of books, and I want to talk about what I read because there is good in secular books. But let me get back to Divergent. Honestly, it left me breathless not only due to the storyline but also for the ideas we we can discuss.
What It’s About (without spoilers)
Divergent is a dystopian young adult book. In case you forgot or didn’t know, dystopian novels are normally the story of a completely degraded and awful society, and it is usually placed sometime in the future.
Due to major problems in the past, society has now split into five factions – Candor, Amity, Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. Young adults must choose their faction after a test that shows their aptitude to these five virtues. Once chosen, it is “faction over blood.” If teens choose a faction outside their family, they give up the ability to live with them, and in some cases, even see them again. The story starts when Beatrice is tested and presented with her choice. As she progresses through the story, she is faced with who she really is and how to respond to a world that is being destroyed.
The Bad in Divergent
1. Divergent gets a rating of PG-13 or higher due to the two sex scenes and a couple places where sex and/or nudity is mentioned. It’s not in depth, but you know what’s going on, and thus I can’t recommend it for younger people. Also, there are a few swear words. Honestly, there may be more, but I missed them because I had to know what happened next.
2. Forgiveness or mercy is not an attribute presented as good. At one point of the book, one of Beatrice’s friends does something to her that’s really bad. (I’m not saying what or who because that would be a spoiler.) Later this friend comes to Beatrice and begs for forgiveness. Beatrice says no. I almost wept for her at this point because Beatrice is filled with anguish of never having healing for this experience. She carries the scars of this decision, feeling the ache and doubting her choice.
My heart also ached because as a Christian, I know the healing power of forgiveness. I know it can be tough, but I know it can be done. I was reminded of the story of Corrie Ten Boom, who after surviving the concentration camps of the Nazis, faced one of the cruelest overseers of the camp she was in. He told her that he was now a Christian and had received God’s forgiveness. He also wanted her forgiveness. If you have the time, watch this clip on YouTube and see her struggle and the result of her decision. Watch here. To sum it up, she says, “You never touch so, the ocean of God’s love, as that you forgive your enemies!”
In Divergent, there is this priceless moment where the freedom of forgiveness could be shown in a powerful way, but unfortunately, violence and hate wins.
3. Violence doesn’t have much of a moral code. For example, you get the impression from the book that if someone hurts you, then it’s okay to hurt them back worse if given the opportunity. It’s the eye for an eye philosophy on steroids. Divergent is more of an eye for your eye and nose and ear and maybe your leg.This is an interesting point, though, because if someone tried to hurt my daughter, I would certainly fight to protect her. But I hesitate to praise this trait, especially the deliberate plotting for revenge.And, of course, I cringe to think of teens killing people.
I wince when Beatrice has to choose between killing a person or be killed. It frightens me that our current heroes are people who decide by themselves that society is bad and the only way to change it is with violence. Is it any wonder that we are seeing more and more attacks in schools?I believe it’s our sinful nature to resort to violence.
And, while I believe there is a time to fight, I keep coming back to the examples of God. God could have easily met violence with violence and has threatened to several times. However, the way that God chose to bring peace was to send His Son, Jesus, to die for us, not to fight back the evil. That is a far more powerful story than one of a person who kills to gain freedom. Instead of blasting the human race into oblivion, God gave His Son as a sacrifice for every single person to experience freedom from the chains of sin.
The Good in Divergent
1. It’s a story you can’t put down. It gets you in and keeps you turning the pages until the end where you cry out for more. It’s also an easy read.
2. Divergent teaches a lot of great attributes. Beatrice and her friends value courage, honesty, intelligence, peace, and sacrifice. There are story lines that highlight them, especially sacrifice, that I can’t share without giving spoilers. There’s a strong theme of anti-bullying.
3. Beatrice is a strong female character. Unlike Bella from Twilight who must completely change to find love and happiness, Beatrice finds strengthen within her. She needs to be brave, and strong, and selfless. She is those things, but she just doesn’t know it yet. As the story continues, she reaches deep down inside of herself and finds that she is strong. She can overcome the difficulties. She can rise above the challenges. She is not a victim. That is a powerful thing.
4. While there is a romance, it’s not the all-consuming kind of Twilight. She keeps her friends. In fact, at times, he tells her to go spend time with them and mend rifts that have occurred. While they are together a lot, they don’t cling to each other.
5. Divergent made me think of how our church has split in certain points. If you are more charismatic, you worship over there. If you like hymns, you go there. Divergent makes the point that the factions need to include all virtues, not just one. Would the church be any better if instead of dividing into groups that we agree with, we stay together in one glorious mess where we could learn from each other?
6. Beatrice sees what is wrong in her society and takes action to stop it. She fights for the ones who can’t and saves lives. She doesn’t wait around for someone to do something. She does what she can to right a wrong. I can’t help but wonder how this world would change for the better if we would take only a bit of action to do something to make life better.
Should you read Divergent or let your teens read it?
That is a question only you can answer. I will not let my daughter read it at fifteen. Maybe even longer.
Will your children turn into sex-crazed killing machines if they read it? Oh, absolutely not.
Could you read it with your teen and have discussions about it that would lead to some great talks about the Christian life, consequences of bad choices, and other great applications? Absolutely! If your kids are dying to read it, this would be a great approach, and it would give you a great platform to discuss relevant issues without preaching.
Should you? Well, that’s up to you. I would highly encourage you to read it first though before allowing your teen to read it.
I would love to end this blog with some alternatives that are clean and present more of a Biblical viewpoint, but I can’t. Can you help me out? Have you read anything like Divergent that a Christian teen could easily read? What are your opinions of Divergent?
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