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Andrea Enda
Drs. Osheim & Lorenz
CTL 277 & 274
11 December 2014
Divergent: Looking Inside the Dystopian Universe
One choice. One choice to determine the rest of your life. One choice to either follow
your heart or disgrace your family. The young adult novel, Divergent by Veronica Roth, explores
the idea that one choice can transform your entire life. The novel provides for us a strong
example of identity and the good life through its characters and events. This dystopian universe
provides much reassurance and direction for young adults. By exploring Divergent we come to
understand ways to envision the good life and the importance of our identity.
Veronica Roths Divergent takes place in futuristic Chicago where the new dystopian
society is broken up into five different factions. Each of these factions has a different virtue and
values they ascribe to. These five factions are: Erudite which values intelligence, Abnegation
which values selflessness, Amity which values peace, Candor which values honesty, and
Dauntless which values courage. These five factions all bring something particular to the table
in order to keep society running smoothly. For instance, the Abnegation faction is in charge of
the government because of their selflessness and the Dauntless faction brings safety and
security because they are brave a ruthless (2 47).
Each person grows up in the faction to which their parents belong. Once the members
turn sixteen they are forced to make a choice that will determine the rest of their life. These

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teenagers are forced to take an aptitude test to determine what skills they have and what faction
they will best fit into. Some people get results that match their current faction, others receive
results that are different from their faction. The day after the test is the Choosing Ceremony.
This ceremony takes place in front of all the other teenagers, who now will be called initiates,
and their families in which they choose their current faction or a different one by dropping blood
into one of the five bowls that represent each faction. If an initiate choosing a faction other than
the one they were born in, they will never see their family again, and even if they decided they
do not like their new faction, they have disgraced their family and will not be welcomed back
they will be factionless. However it is not always an easy choice of what the aptitude test results
say, some people dont fit into just one faction, some people are divergent (Roth 2 47).
One of the main characters Beatrice Prior, later known as Tris finds herself in quite a
predicament of choosing a faction. She is one of the unique ones that does not fit into just one
faction. Beatrice, your results were inconclusive (Roth 20). This short sentence and test result
determined Beatrices fate that day. This is the moment she finds out she is divergent. That she
doesnt just fit into one faction, she holds many different virtues and not just one, making her
choice of what faction to join even harder. Beatrice has always been fascinated by the Dauntless
people, she admires their bravery. So when the time comes to choose her faction, she picks
Dauntless, abandoning her family and all that she knows (Roth 20 -47).
The second major character that is important to note is Four. In chapter seven we find out
that Four is in charge of the Dauntless initiates. As the novel progresses the reader comes to find
out that him and Tris have a love interest as well as similar feelings about the faction system.
Four does not want to just fit into one faction, he does not agree with having to choose, just as
Tris doesnt fit into a faction. He becomes a strong influence in Triss life especially while she

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goes through the Dauntless initiation, which occurs for about two weeks after the Choosing
Ceremony.
The last significant character to discuss is Jeanie Matthews. She is the head of the
Erudite faction, because of her intelligence. She is a driving force in this society, and the
antagonist of the novel. Jeanie Matthews uses her intelligence to try and over throw the
Abnegation government. She sees what the factions are doesnt want the society to escape to
the world outside of the factions. Those that are divergent are a threat to this system which is
why Jeanie Matthews wants them gone from the society (Roth 426 431).
The theme of identity is very apparent in Divergent, the theme is brought to us through
the five different factions. The characters are forced to submit to the identity of their faction.
This seems quite harsh, but it really isnt, the people are given the choice of which faction to be
in. The factions bring identity to each person. The virtues that each faction call each member to
uphold those virtues, when the choosing ceremony comes along it is time for those people to
decide if they are going to find their identity with what they were born in and in their family, or
to abandon your family and what you know best, and make a choice that fits your personality the
best. This is where the struggle with identity comes in to play in the novel. It is about finding
what is the most important thing that forms ones identity is it your family? Or your own
personal virtue and belief?
Looking at Beatrice Prior she shows the readers that finding your true identity can be
hard. In the world of Divergent the people are forced to pick one identity and stick with it, to
embrace the identity of their factions, the factions tell all. Through her aptitude test we see that
Beatrice doesnt fit into one faction, she is divergent. My mother told me once that we cant
survive alone, but even if we could, we wouldnt want to. Without a faction, we have no purpose

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and no reason to live (Roth 20). Now that she technically doesnt have an identity based on the
standards of the society, what is she to do now? Identity is found in the factions, the factions
determine your identity as a person. I think weve made a mistakeweve 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 kind, and honest (Roth 405). Here Four
is talking about his desire to not focus or form his identity with just one faction or virtue. He
does not classify as a divergent however he feels that this system is wrong, and that people
shouldnt have to fit into a right faction. It is interesting because here he begins to see the fault
in the society, that factions are trying to become better than the others, he sees the fault in only
allowing yourself to become one thing.
Identity plays a major role in the life of Beatrice Prior. Since she doesnt fit into just one
faction because she is divergent means she has a tough choice to make between her family and a
whole new faction, just like many of the other people her age. She feels conflicted because
Abnegation was one of her virtues from her aptitude result so there may some Abnegation in her
blood. She may feel her duty is too her family because of this result, but does she still feel that
way inside, or does she feel she can use her gifts in a different way. There is a conflict in her as
to where her duty lies, to her family or to what is in her heart, what she can bring to society.
This idea of duty and responsibility relates to the character Rambert from The Plague by
Albert Camus. In The Plague Rambert comes to the city of Oran as a journalist, but when the
plague breaks out Rambert pleads to go home because he has a love interest he left back home.
At this point in his life he feels his duty and identity are found in his lover. As the novel
progresses, Rambert becomes more and more involved in becomes with the city of Oran he
wonders where his duty lies, he begins to see that maybe his duty does not lie with his lover, but

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with the city. Rambert says, Maybe Im all wrong in putting love first. (Camus 163). This
validates the idea that he at once thought he had found where his identity lied, however maybe he
was all wrong. Just like in the novel Beatrice has to choose her faction first or what she feels
best fits her and her aptitude. Both Beatrice and Rambert have some conflicting feelings about
the choices they have already made or have to make.
The factions play a large role in the identity of a person, but the art of choosing a faction
can bring these characters into the good life. The good life in the novel Divergent can be seen in
the Choosing Ceremony, the moment when a person decides their faction. Choosing a faction
represents the good life because it allows for individual decision, as well as finding ones place
in society. At one point before the Choosing Ceremony Beatrices brother, Caleb says to her,
Beatricewe should think of our familyBut. But we must also think of ourselves (Roth 36).
By making a selfish decision, a choice all based on ones own thoughts, ones own identity this is
where a person steps into the good life. At the Choosing Ceremony when Beatrice picks
Dauntless over her family, she steps into the good life (Roth 47). Finding your faction is the
good life in the terms of divergent, it brings an individual to step into their authentic self. This is
the good life because it is finding where your talents best meet up, whether if it is based off of
the aptitude test or even sticking with your family. It is about finding your belonging, finding on
how you can serve your society in the best way possible.
The second aspect of the good life that is seen in Divergent is found in the initiation
process. After the Choosing Ceremony each new member becomes and initiate and has to go
through an initiation process, if they do not pass the initiation process, they then become
factionless. This initiation process is a part of the good life because it is the final deciding factor
and test as to getting into the faction that meshes best with who a person is. It is what pushes the

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initiates into the good life fully. The initiation process also works as a validation, reassuring the
initiates that they have chosen the right faction (Roth 48 75).
The representation of the good life seen in Divergent can be simplified to seeing the good
life as making the right choice or decision. As the cover of the novel by Veronica Roth it states,
One choice can transform you this is a theme that is also very relevant to Jean Baptiste in the
novel, The Fall by Albert Camus. Jean Baptiste suffers all of this life with regret and
discomfort from making the choice not to help the woman who fell off of the bridge (Camus 70).
This choice changed his life forever, just as the one choice Beatrice will make at the Choosing
Ceremony will change her life forever. These two connections together reveal that our choices
have much of an effect on the rest of lives than we think. One simple choice can bring about
many different changes, little or big into our live the good life is about picking the right choice
so that the rest falls into place.
Looking deeper into the character of Jeanie Matthews, we find that she is very similar to
Nietzsches overman. As one of the smartest members of the society, Jeanie Matthews uses this
in a villainous way. She finds the divergent as a threat to the system, a system she wants to rule.
In order to rule the society and take over she has to impose these values and views she has about
those who are divergent onto other people, these people are the members of Erudite. Through
mind control and persuasion she inflicts these powers onto the Erudite people and attempts to
take over the society (Roth 416 425). Jeanie Matthews is the overman in this situation, The
spirit now wills his own will, and he who had been lost to the world now conquers his own
world (Nietzsche 86). This is a great example of what Jeanie Matthews is trying to do in her
own Erudite world. Thinking about Divergent in relation to Nietzsches ideas about meaning,
reveals to the reader that maybe the characters in the book as well as the reader are searching for

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meaning in all of the wrong places. One may say Jeanie Matthews is searching for meaning
within the society and within power, whereas the themes of novel produce for us that meaning
should be found within ones authentic self, and through the choices we make.
Divergent teaches its readers a lot about the themes of identity and community, however
it also brings up the question of why this dystopian universe was created and what it brings to
those who read it, what is the point of this novel in our current society? Being a young adult
novel, Divergent relates to young adults on a very deep level. It is a novel that young adults can
relate to in many different ways. In an article called On Fire Girl by Rosamund Urwin it
states, Most of these novels involve authoritarian governments that demand conformity, much
like many teens feel schools, teachers and parents ask of them (Urwin, On Fire Girl). This is
an example of one of the reasons that young adults are attracted to Divergent as well as dystopian
novels in general. They identify with the characters desire to not conform to the government or
society around them. Young adults are at a point in their life where they want to challenge the
authority, dystopian novels provide this escape for teens to dive into this desire to fight against
the power in their lives. It allows them to enter into a life they dont have but wish they did.
Another aspect as to why young adults are attracted to the novel Divergent, is it brings up
issues that they themselves are currently facing. There, a set of exams determines your fate,
who you get to be, and the society is divided into groups, not unlike the cliques of secondary
school. Those who can't fit into one factionmust either choose to cover up aspects of
themselves and pretend to belong (Urwin, On Fire Girl). According to this article the faction
system exemplifies the middle school and high school experience of trying to fit into a certain
clique or group. Many young adults may find themselves in the same situation as Beatrice, not
fitting into just one group. It is conflicting though because society tells these teens that you have

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to be one thing, whether you are into sports or music you must choose one. This is a main factor
as to why young adults are attracted to Divergent, because they can identify with Beatrice and
not fitting in. This comparison also gives young adults and example to follow, an example to
step outside of the norm and to take a stand for not fitting into just one group.
In relation to the world outside of the novel, it also brings up many points and realization
of what the future has in store. In many aspects of the world, it seems as though everything will
fall into place and be secure however, what Divergent and other dystopian novels supply for
us, is the opposite. As we reflect on all of the different connection Divergent has with our lives,
dystopian novels also compare to our future. It once again is an escape for what is going on in
our current world and current events. As stated in an article by Laurie Penny These stories
function both as manifesto and pressure release valve. They are escapist only in hat they allow
for the possibility of resistance (Penny, No wonder teens love stories about dystopian futures
they feel like theyre heading for one). The point being made here is that there can be so much
bad into this world, which readers turn to the dystopian universe to see and hope for a resistance
to this bad, a resistance for change, a change that they themselves hope for yet cannot obtain.
Overall, the novel Divergent gives adolescences an opportunity to escape from their own
reality. The teenage years are a major time for change and finding out who you are as a person
and where you belong. The novel projects the value of being who you were meant to be, and
calls the audience to choose to step outside of the norm and choose to be the best you can be,
using your talents to the fullest. The value of choice is also highly noted throughout the novel,
emphasizing that one choice can change everything. This sometimes comes across harsh, but it
can also be seen more positive. Choices are important, not because they can ruin us, but because
they can bring about great change. Divergent allows us to look at ourselves and our society in a

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new life, it brings us to see that our choices matter and make a difference either in our own lives
or the lives of someone else.

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Works Cited
Camus, Albert. The Plague. New York: Modern Library, 1948. Print.
Camus, Albert, and Justin O'Brien. The Fall. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1957. Print.
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, and Walter Arnold. Kaufmann. Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book
for All and None. New York: Modern Library, 1995. Print.
Penny, Laurie. "No Wonder Teens Love Stories About Dystopian Futures - They Feel Like
They're Heading For One." New Statesman 143.5203 (2014): 19. Business Source Elite.
Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Rosamund, Urwin. "on fire Girl." Evening Standard 28 Mar. 2014: 54. Newspaper Source Plus.
Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
Roth, Veronica. Divergent. New York, New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2011.