bethany!! asked this question about
Divergent (Divergent, #1):
Should I read it? I read a review that said it was confusing. I've wanted to read it, for a while...but never knew if I should of.
Anonymous
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[The book Divergent by Veronica Roth narrates the story of an alternate society heavily established on the idea of separate factions to prevent warfares and chaos. People would get appointed to 4 different factions based on their ability and mentality. However, it is evident that this system of regulation does not prove to be successful in truly enhancing the quality of people’s lives. As you read about the journey of a girl named Tris who transferred from a faction to another, there are many moments where there are obvious hostility and resentment between factions and even within a faction. A theme the book is probably trying to suggest is that a person’s innate characteristics and personalities should not be categorized and controlled by an authoritarian government. One reason is because this system of regulation is inhumane. In the early parts of the book Veronica described the day of the test that would determine which faction would best fit Tris. Veronica talked about how “Faction customs dictate even idle behavior and supersede individual preference.” And another part saying, “What if they tell me that I’m not cut out for any faction? I would have to live on the streets, with the factionless. I can’t do that. To live factionless is not just to live in poverty and discomfort, it is to live divorced from society, separated from the most important thing in life, community. My mother told me once that we can’t survive alone, but even if we could, we wouldn’t want to. Without a faction, we have no purpose and no reason to live.” This is an example of how stringent the factions are about the way people act. When the government goes further into regulating our behaviors – it is clear that it’s time for a change. To have everybody’s individuality completely altered to one’s wish basically means that they are dehumanizing the people, turning them into machines to contribute to the society for maximum proficiency – when the advancement of civilization requires distinctive and unique minds to promote reformation. It already seems so deeply ingrained in their culture of integration that they can talk about these things in a completely casual manner, like it is completely ordinary. This harsh way of living seems very inhumane. It would be hard to imagine living in this condition where the government dictates your every move like a puppet in their palms, which only seems more detrimental. Another major issue the book brings up about the segregation technique is how when people go through the initiation process that are often way too precarious, as apparent when Veronica said in the book, “We do dangerous things and people die. People die, and we move on to the next dangerous thing. The sooner that lesson sinks in, the better chance I have at surviving initiation”. When Tris was going through the initiation to become a Dauntless, the task was rather dangerous, requiring them to leap onto a rooftop while on a high-speed train. A few were so scared that they stayed on – one even died when trying to get to the rooftop. The people who stayed behind would become factionless which many people, such as Tris, think is a punishment worse than death. This was clear when, as the initiates were about to jump off the train as part of their initiation, Tris thought, “I don’t agree with him. I would rather be dead than empty, like the factionless.” This is an example of how harsh and often perilous the task are for going into the factions, with no way of turning back or flexible adjustments; it is often overwhelming for those who switch factions midway. People like the Erudite spent their whole life specializing in gathering as much knowledge as they can (to become astute and insightful people for dealing with cognitive thinking) suddenly gets faced with cruel physical challenges (such as when they were placed with the other natural born Dauntlesses who had physically trained themselves all these years), to determine the absurdly small percentage of people that would get to join the Dauntless – with the others facing the penalty of becoming a factionless. This would mean that all the other factions would have to try much harder to get placed in the top ten after the grueling initiation process. Furthermore, the newcomers would not know anything about the initiation procedure and they are not even allowed to prepare for it, which practically makes it impossible for them to pass. When the Erudite boy stays behind on the train – he would be left with virtually nothing and no future – when he could’ve been contributing so much to the society with his inherent expertise. The factions feel way too restrictive in their selection process; sometimes people with lots of capabilities get thrown into the dirt just because they don’t fit in the few categories that are acceptable in this society. The factions create too little opportunities and prevent people from reaching their full potential. I acknowledge that people may argue that the other factions are probably not as cruel as the Dauntless, especially when this specific faction is portrayed as being physically and mentally demanding. But I believe that even the Dauntless has crossed the line, as it was mentioned in the middle of the book, “That’s what the Dauntless are supposed to do, right? That’s what courage is. Not … hurting people for no reason. I remember what Four told me, that teamwork used to be a Dauntless priority. What would I have learned if I had been here when my mother was Dauntless? Maybe I wouldn’t have broken Molly’s nose. or threatened Will’s sister.” This not only implies that the Dauntless is in a very conflicted state, but that if the Dauntless faction’s customs can fluctuate like this; other factions would probably be vulnerable to debilitation; therefore, there are still some evidence provided about the status of other factions. Even if this system was acceptable to civil standards before, it seems to be falling far from it now; this slow phase of corruption insinuates towards the factions’ instability. It is completely immoral to strictly control people’s every action and shape their personality to meet certain expectations. Personality is boundless and innumerable; a person’s trait is always unique in some way. It is unethical to forcefully modify a person’s disposition to fulfill the needs of the community. Instead, people should focus on rehabilitating only those who cause harm to others, and not having a system of factions with definite personalities and characteristics to uphold order and safety. (hide spoiler)]
by
Veronica Roth (Goodreads Author)
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Feb 07, 2022 07:40PM · flag