Perez 1 Wendy Perez Professor Filbeck English 114B February 25, 2014

Present Day Factions Divergent by Veronica Roth, is a dystopian novel centered around a controlled government which impairs it's citizens from thinking individually. In this distant story, future Chicago is divided into different factions Dauntless, Amity, Abnegation, Erudite, and Candor. Factions that identify and represent each individual, yet it secludes them from being anything else. What it's citizens do in this society depends on what faction they choose to be in, such as job opportunities, for example Erudite are teachers because they are wise and Abnegation the government leaders because they are selfless and think of others first. Their factions also choose where they live, who they marry, what they wear and their appearance (tattoos for the Dauntless), and finally how they pass their free time. This system was created to set order in their world, giving people the opportunity to do what they think is right. Present day America has a unique yet similar system, that was created unintentionally but that has stuck with how our society works. Although we are put into simulations with challenges that according to our decisions place us in a faction, we place people according to their ethnicity, social class, gender, culture, religion, or residential status. Without realizing it, society has created their own kind of factions that places people unfairly into groups that they are furthermore judged by. There are flaws in all ideas. But some ideas effect the people they are trying to help. It is never truly explained in Divergent how the factions were created, but because of all the constant

Perez 2 misunderstandings and ruthlessness towards other factions, it is clear that this system is not working for this society. Just like Veronica Roth explained in this next quote, "Maybe Dauntless was formed with good intentions, with the right ideas and the right goals. But it has traded far form 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 other factions suffer from the same problem" (Roth 206). Even though the factions were created with good intentions they have slowly become corrupted by their own ambition. Something similar with the unfair work conditions people are put in now. The United States was based as "the land of the free" where everyone had an equal opportunity to work. But lately jobs have become restricted to only those who vaguely qualify. Education is also so something that is greatly effected by our divided "factions". Reports have shown that "But the big picture is that, as in so many other things, the U.S. is a deeply divided nation when it comes to educational excellence. Some states crank out geniuses while others mass-produce mediocrity. And one of the reasons why is most certainly poverty," (Buchanan-Whitlock). Based on the students social class or even ethnicity, their education and learning process is very often unequal. And because on this educational unfairness, these students don't have the opportunity to reach for more satisfying jobs that also causes them to placed in a group. High school drop outs are not always a result of personal problems, but of the limited opportunities some students are faced with. Because they don't rely on the resources that other students with a higher class have, they result to be labeled unethical, untrustworthy and unreliable in other words the factionless. "In America, what you earn depends largely on your success in school. Unfortunately, your success in school depends largely on what your parents earn" (Buchanan-Whitlock).

Perez 3 Veronica Roth was very spot on when referring to the factionless as those who don't fit any of given personalities or requirements that the factions require. Modern day factionless can be reflected on uneducated citizens, or those who have come to America to pursue a better life, in other words the immigrants. In this quote "I have realized that part of being Dauntless is being willing to make things more difficult for yourself in order to be self-sufficient. There's nothing especially brave about wandering dark streets with no flashlight, but we are not supposed to need help, even from light. We are supposed to be capable of anything" (Roth 138) the main character refers to the Dauntless faction and how they choose to make everything difficult for themselves. Immigrants came to the land of opportunities in search for a better life, prospering for themselves. Very similar to the Dauntless, they choose to be brave and pursue to be a better "faction members". But there are plenty of negative comments about undocumented residents "From 2000 to 2013, a period of record immigration, the number of U.S.-born Americans with jobs declined by 1.3 million while the number of immigrants with jobs increased 5.3 million. On net, all employment gains went to immigrant workers" (Sessions, Jeff) many complaint that immigrants are taking up jobs that citizens should have. Yet many of these jobs are jobs that don't require very much experience and in many cases receive less than minimum wages. Factionless are frowned upon for their lack of perseverance in the book many fail to see how they also play an important part in their system by doing the jobs no one wants to do very similar to undocumented workers. The book Divergent provides us with the theme of discrimination. We place people in groups because that is the only way we know how to categorize their differences. Being Divergent is something so unique and unexpected that they are a danger. This can only mean that Veronica Roth sees people with, all the factions qualities as different, that maybe she thinks that

Perez 4 even in our time Divergence is hard to find. A person that fits all categories unintentionally. Being Divergent is being someone who can control them selfs, in every way. Whether in simulations controlling their fears or having characteristics that contradict themselves. You can't be brave but be selfless, and you can't be selfless and intelligent, something that was made very clear in the book, we have become so consumed by our "faction" that we don't allow ourself to be anything else. Divergence is those who thrive to be someone other than what they are labeled as. In this quote "I think weve made a mistake, ...Weve all started to put down the virtues of the other factions in the process of bolstering our own. I dont want to do that. I want to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and honest... I continually struggle with kindness" (Roth 405) the character Tobias longs for opportunity to be more than just brave. Something similar to our generation. We don't want to be labeled as simply Hispanic or college drop out but also successful, or immigrant but also college graduate. Divergence is not caring about how others perceive you and out doing everyone's expectations. Divergent is a future dystopian novel with incredibly accurate ideas about what will happen in years to come. Some may say it's far fetched but with the way society has unknowingly dedicated themselves to diving society, this dystopia is sure to come. Divergent is warning its readers of the dangers of discrimination and categorizing people into groups and giving some more opportunities than others. By the end of the novel, two of the five factions are in war (Erudite and Abnegation) and they're about to bring the fight to a third. This can only rhetorically say that any society is doomed to fall, because of the lack of communication and respect people have for one another. There is a quote in Divergent that says "I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another" (Roth 207),

Perez 5 representing that the factions had good intentions and that there is still hope for society. Therefor it foreshadows how our society needs to be aware of this inequality, and many are, but none take into consideration that these categories can end up overpowering our society therefore creating a seemingly equal and just government when in reality they restrict its citizens and impair many from being who they truly are, different or Divergent.

Perez 6 Works Cited Buchanan-Whitlock, Emmilie. "Inequality in Education across United States Result of Poverty." DeseretNews.com. 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.deseretnews.com/ article/865589624/Inequality-in-education-across-United-States-result-of-poverty.html? pg=all&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F>. Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen, 2012. Print. Sessions, Jeff. "Sen. Sessions: Immigration Spikes Income Inequality." USA Today. Gannett, 27 Jan. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/01/26/ sessions-immigration-reform-obama-gop-column/4917095/>.