Broomfield 1

Jake Broomfield
Mrs. Thoreson ORourke
Composition Skills
2 September 2015
Insurgent is one of the many perfect examples of how wrong utopian societies can go.
Utopian societies have the perception that they run perfectly with no problems but deep down its
one of the most corrupt and unrighteous societies out there. Insurgent is the sequel to the popular
novel and movie Divergent. Insurgent is all about finding out the true meaning to being a
divergent and fighting against the corrupt erudite faction run by Jeanine. There are a lot of
themes displayed in Insurgent and there are many to pick from. Insurgent displays a power
struggle in an utopian society because of its themes of change, courage, and control.
The theme of change appears in insurgent when the formed alliance factions fought each
other for the change of a better government. They also try to find out the truth about what it
really means to be a divergent. Change is frequently discussed in the novel and is evident in
quotes such as "Sometimes drastic change requires drastic measures. Evelyn's shadow lifts a
shoulder. I imagine it will involve a high level of destruction." (Roth) This explains that there is
so much wrong in the utopian society the factions are joining together to take down the
unrighteous erudite.
Courage is also a prominent theme in Insurgent. It appears throughout the novel on many
occasions. The main character, Tris, displays courage all throughout the book by having the
courage to fighting against the erudite and fight for the right to know the secret about being a
divergent. Other characters frequently try to display their courage throughout the book "No
matter how long you train someone to be brave, you never know if they are not until something

Broomfield 2
real happens." (Roth) However, Tris proves herself to be the one with the most courage
frequently. Tris is a perfect example of how many people can be perceived to be brave but until
something serious and life threatening happens people will show their true colors. Tris at the end
of the day keeps fighting for what she believes in.
Control is the theme in Insurgent that ties the whole novel together. The entire novel is
just a display of a power struggle between different people and factions. Erudite tried to control
all the factions and eliminate all divergent people in order to uphold all political power and
continue being a tyrant. "Do remember though, that sometimes the people you oppress become
mightier than you would like." (Roth) This is a great quote because erudite leader Jeanine was
rushed with power and control until Tris and fellow soldiers finally overpowered her.
Being the corrupt utopian society that Insurgent displays throughout the book there are
many themes that relate to it such as change, courage, and control. To finalize the point,
Insurgent contains multiple themes that are present throughout the entire novel that come
together as a whole to display a perfect example of a corrupt utopian society. Novels like
Insurgent provide perfect examples of how society can be deemed to be utopian can be corrupt.
They provide examples for humans so that they do not make the same mistakes in real life.