SNARKINESS IS IN MY DNA, AND IM KEEPING IT

Snarkiness is in my DNA, and Im keeping it

(Reflection 1)
Myranda Larsen
Salt Lake Community College

SNARKINESS IS IN MY DNA, AND IM KEEPING IT

The Divergent Trilogy by Veronic a Roth tells the story of a young heroine who lives in the
futuristic, dystopian city of present day Chicago. In Roths books, society is split into five groups or
factions based on specific characteristics that each faction values above all else. The Erudite value
knowledge, the Abnegation value selflessness, Candor for honesty, Amity for peacefulness, and
Dauntless for bravery. The whole idea seems so preposterous until, in the last book, we discover that
these individuals were genetically engineered to be smart, selfless, honest, peaceful, or brave. Tris, our
heroine, falls neatly into none of these categories, thus finding her lot cast with the Divergent or
genetically pure.
You see, when the world decided to replace all mankinds flawed genes with pure genes, they
found it to be counterproductive. Wars broke out. People were unbalanced. They could no longer relate
to one another. Take away someones fear, or low intelligence, or dishonesty . . . and you take away
their compassion. Take away someones aggression and you take away their motivation, or their
ability to assert themselves. Take away their selfishness and you take away their sense of selfpreservation (Roth, 2013) Tris finds out that the city she once called home was no more than a

scientific experiment to re-purify the genetic code of millions of people who had fallen victim to genetic
synthesis without their knowledge.
The book is really quite clever, though Veronica Roth cannot claim sole credit for this idea of
genetic modification or purification. Eugenics, or good birth (Goering, 2014), is a science that is
dedicated to the purification on the genetic code. This is an old, somewhat taboo science that has been
going on for decades. In fact, the term Eugenics has been around since the 1800s, and was coined by
a British explorer and Natural Scientist named Francis Galton (Wilson, 2014). Galton played on Darwins
famous idea of Natural Selection, believing that nature would support the best genes and discard the
others in a survival of the fittest.

SNARKINESS IS IN MY DNA, AND IM KEEPING IT

You can see how beneficial this idea can really be. You need to feed a few million people? Great.
We have genetically engineered fruit-bearing trees to produce giant fruit at twice the rate. Youre
looking for a dog who can fit inside your purse and let you tie bows in her hair? Weve got those. Weve
created hundreds of different dog breeds to suit any prospective pet owner. Every day scientists
experiment with breeding and genetic enhancement to create species that are stronger, larger,
healthier, and more domestic.
This all sounds fine and dandy, but what happens when we apply these principles to human
beings like Veronica Roth did in the Divergent Trilogy? One of the most well known, and infamous
examples of Eugenics is that of the holocaust during World War II. Adolf Hitler believed that by
eradicating undesirable genetics from the human gene pool, he could create a master race. He went
about purifying the gene pool in an all-too-sinister sort of way. We have all heard the stories of death
camps, toxic showers, firing squads, and many other horrific venues of death. I think most of the (sane)
population would agree that Hitlers version of Eugenics is ethically wrong.
But Hitler was not the only one who believed in ridding the world of undesirable genetics. In
fact, in the early 1900s, right here in the USA, states started passing laws to force sterilization upon the
disabled community so that they would not produce more disabled offspring (Kaelber, 2012). Right here
in Utah, an approximated seven hundred and seventy-two individuals fell victim to forced sterilization
due to being born with a physical or mental disability (2012). Thats seven hundred and seventy two
people who will never know the joy of holding their own infant in their arms, because the world thought
it would be a better place if people with disabilities were snuffed out. This trend of forced sterilization
existed until the 1960s when sterilization laws began to be amended (2012).
In the Divergent books, however, the process of Eugenics was not achieved by the mass
slaughtering of humans with unsavory genes; it was achieved by cutting the dishonest gene or the
selfish gene out of the human genome, and enhancing the bravery gene or the intelligent gene. In

SNARKINESS IS IN MY DNA, AND IM KEEPING IT

this series of books, Roth has assumed that dishonesty, selfishness, cowardice, rebelliousness, and
unintelligence are genetic as opposed to environmental. It turns out Veronica Roth and I are not the
only ones who have wondered if bad behavior is in our genes, or if it is a learned behavior. Data about
the origins of bad behavior is only now becoming available (Association for Psychological Science, 2011).
Some scientists believe that there are bad behavior genes imbedded in our DNA, and because of these
genes, some people are more prone to violence, alcoholism, and criminal behavior (Jones, 2005).
However, some people believe that these bad behavior genes can be suppressed or enhanced by
environmental factors. Some research suggests that parental involvement can go a long way toward
eliminating or suppressing bad behavior in children who have the bad behavior gene (2011).
So, if selfishness, cowardice, rebelliousness, dishonesty, and unintelligence lurk inside of our
DNA, why couldnt we take measures to eradicate them from the human genome, like Veronica Roth
proposes in her books? We may not have the technology today, but I dont see why that means we will
never have the technology. Could we create Utopia by disentangling ourselves from the genes that make
us flawed and corruptible?
No. The answer clearly lies within the pages of Allegient, the third book to the Divergent Trilogy.
Veronica Roth put it perfectly when she said, Humanity has never been perfect, but the genetic
alterations made it worse than it ever had been before (2013). . . Human beings as a whole cannot be
good for long before the bad creeps back in and poisons us again (Roth, 2011) It is our so-called flaws
that make us unique, motivated, compassionate, assertive, and self preserving. After all, genes arent
everything, people, even genetically damaged people, still make choices. Thats what matters (Roth,
2013). I definitely have my own flaws, but I would not give them up for anything. They make me who I
am.

SNARKINESS IS IN MY DNA, AND IM KEEPING IT

References
Association for Psychological Science (2011) Genes may contribute to a childs bad behavior, but only
when parents are distant. Association for Psychological Science.
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/genes-may-contribute-to-achilds-bad-behavior-but-only-when-parents-are-distant.html.
Goering S. (2014) Eugenics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Sara Goering.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/eugenics.
Kaelber, L. (2012) Eugenics: Compulsory Sterilization in 50 American States.
http://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics.
Roth, V. (2011) Divergent. Katherine Tegen Books. p.441
Roth, V. (2013) Allegient. Katherine Tegen Books. p. 122, 123,
Wilson, P. K., (2014) Eugenics. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195069/eugenics.