I really dislike Tris Prior??

[Samantha]

I think there is too much emphasis on "liking" characters. I think flawed girls that aren't likeable are refreshing, they *should* irritate you. I think women are expected to be perfect, selfless, kind, funny, warm, but we are never permitted to be messy, broken, annoying, and god forbid, unlikeable. I think Tris is a decent character, and Christina did frustrate me when she was angry at Tris over Will, but she realised she was wrong to have that perspective when she later went through a similar situation. I honestly think female characters are also more likely to cop slack than male ones too, which is unconscious. This post drives that home too. And if we took the one we loved most in the world and were faced with a choice to try and save them or strangers, I honestly don't know if I would have it in me to leave the one I loved to die. I doubt any of us would make that decision easily.

SPOILERS: I think there are some key elements of the series that are frustrating in regards to the plot. The ending was unnecessary, for example. Killing off a major character for the sake of drama pisses me off, because at this point it isn't an original concept anymore. There are other things that bothered me, which is why the Divergent series isn't a particular fave of mine.

[Chloer705]

i totally agree. i love these books, but i really hate tris. she is very selfish, but then every once in a while, the abnegation will come out in her and everyone thinks shes a hero. my friend asked me who my favorite character was and i said "they're all annoying, but maybe Christina" i do love these books tho.

other note about the book:
*spoiler alert:
why does it have to turn out that it is all fake, just some lab experiment. the books were so good and then the whole experiment thing had to go and ruin it.

[Edward]

Can't say I agree on your take on Tris. If your not feeling the character, your not feeling the character. That's cool. There is one thing you have said multiple times that bothers me that I feel the need to point out. You say she should have shot Will's hands instead of killing him and this is one of the reason you don't like her. Ok, in the real world you can't just shoot someone in the hands. That kindof stuff is just action movie bullshit. Hands are a small target and in a combat situation if you are wasting your time trying to disarm your opponent by shooting his hands, you're more likely to miss and he's just going to shoot and kill you. Cops, military personnel, and anyone that learns and regularly trains how to shoot is taught to shoot center of mass. You hit the body which is a wide easier to hit target with many vital organs to hit meaning when you land your shot, your more likely to neutralize the threat by either killing it or grieviously wounding it. It doesn't mean you can't shoot a small target and sometimes shooting dead center in the chest is not the most optimal choice say when your opponent is wearing kevlar or another type of body armor. In those instances, you can aim for another part of the body but you aim at the center of that body part so you are more likely to hit it. In Tris's case, Will was mind controlled making him an innocent, but regardless he was a hostile trying to kill her. Her best option for survival was to shoot and kill him. She had no choice. She had to kill him. Otherwise, he would have killed her and she would have been no good to anyone. It sucks and it understandable has haunted her into the next book/movie but she had to do it. At the end of the day, Will's death isn't on Tris's hands. It's on Jeannine's. Jeannine mind controlled all of Dauntless to commit genocide on Amnity. She was the one that forced Will to be out there shooting at his friend. His death is entirely Jeannine's fault. And she pays for it at the end of Insurrgent. Although in my humble opinion I think Tris should have killed Jeannine at the end of the first book instead of Evelyn doing it at the end of Insurrgent.

[Chloer705]

i totally agree with everything you just said. the one thing you have to think about is that it doesn't matter who's fault it really was, tris killed him and she is going to feel guilty. it wasn't her fault, but if you shot your best friend would you feel bad even if you knew it wasn't really your fault?