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Steven Cariaga

BBST 465 Theo of Heroes and Villains

Dr. Brian S. Chan

21 October 2015

Analysis of a Villain: Divergent

The movie Divergent (2014) portrays Chicago 100 years after a cataclysmic war. The city

is surrounded by a gigantic fence and the society inside is split into 5 factions: Erudite, the

intelligent, Abnegation, the selfless, Candor, the honest, Dauntless, the brave, and Amity, the

peaceful. This system was implemented to ensure lasting peace. The villain in the story is

Jeanine Matthews, leader of the Erudite faction.

Jeanine’s quest to gain control of the city is motivated by her desire for peace and her

abhorrence of human nature. Her desire for peace is not uncommon; the factions were formed to

make a peaceful society, each combatting a certain human flaw. All members of the society

desire peace. However as a result of her great intelligence Jeanine concludes that peace is

attainable only through the complete destruction of human nature. In order to fulfill this vision

she invents a serum that allows her to control people. She forms an alliance with the leaders of

the Dauntless faction, who allow her to control their soldiers and subjugate the other factions. In

the end Jeanine is hoping for a world that is completely without free human nature. If any person

displays independent thought, they would be eradicated by her mind-controlled army of soldiers.

Jeanine’s worldview most closely matches naturalism. She sees humanity only as their

nature, and not their beauty in their freedom. Evidence of Jeanine’s hatred of human nature is not
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hard to find; she clearly states “I think human nature is the enemy. It’s human nature to keep

secrets, lie, steal, and I want to eradicate that. It is how we’ll make a peaceful society.” Her

response is to save the world by eradicating human nature. “Human nature destroyed [the peace].

Those with the vision to see it are called upon to protect the rest.” Clearly she feels it is her duty

to use her knowledge to bring about good, but her knowledge is cold and isolated; she lacks the

compassion of other factions that would keep her from imposing her will. This lack of

compassion is what confirms her naturalist worldview.

I must agree with Jeanine’s worldview, but only slightly. One of Christianity’s tenets is

the fallen nature of humanity. Adam’s original sinful nature is passed down to all humans, and

this nature is what causes all humans to sin. Since this corruption is at our core, everything we do

is tainted with it; sin is our default, and we struggle to resist it and do good. Humans are

naturally selfish, prideful, and idolatrous. All societal ills can be traced back to individual human

sin. Therefore, I agree when Jeanine says that human nature is the enemy. However, I do not

agree that the course of action to take is to enslave others and impose your own will through

force. Dictators throughout the past have all done the same thing, believing that they are bringing

about peace. Their method is always the same: kill anyone who you believe would disturb the

peace. Of course any sane person would realize that this is itself the least peaceful option of all.

The biblical response is Jesus, just as it is in reality. All of society’s ills can be dispelled by

following Christianity, at the core of which is placing others’ needs above your own. This would

eliminate selfishness, pride, cowardice, and all other human faults. Of course, it is impossible to

follow Christ perfectly because of the sinful nature we have and thus it is impossible to have a

perfect world. However, if everyone suddenly started following Christ, even imperfectly, the

world would drastically and immediately change for the better.