Running head: DIVERGENT 1

Divergent and Today’s Society

Brooke Heulitt

Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi

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Abstract

This paper explains how the movie Divergent relates back to

everyday life. In this paper, the main focus from the movie

Divergent is the Choosing Ceremony when Tris, and her brother

Caleb, choose which faction they belong in. At the age of 16,

they have to choose how they are going to be living the rest of

their lives, this relates back to society today because at the

age of 18, we graduate High School and are forced into making a

decision on what to do with our lives. We have the option of

going to College or trade school, into the Military, or working

for a living, but once we choose, we can always stop and try

something new. In Divergent, once they pick a faction, they have

to stick with it or else they will become factionless which is

equivalent to being homeless for us. This movie may not have the

exact same occurrences as our everyday life does, however, you

can still relate to it, if you look close enough.

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Divergent and Today’s Society

Today, the goal of movies is to connect with the audience in

many different ways, and ease reactions out of audience members

using various Rhetorical methods. Sometimes the audience can just

see themselves in that situation, other times the movie creators

hope the audience can identify even more because of personal

experience; this empathy takes the meaning of the scene to a new

level. I chose the scene from the movie, Divergent, when they are

at the Choosing Ceremony picking their faction. In this scene,

you can see how the writers used ethos, pathos and logos to draw

the audience into this scene. When they join a faction, they not

only have a career in that faction, but they have a whole new

family. No matter what faction they choose, they cannot interact

with their blood family anymore unless they are in the same

faction. So at the age of 16, they are expected to grow up an

extreme amount and choose the rest of their lives. This connects

with the audience, especially college students, because we know

how it is to suddenly grow up and make decisions on our own,

however, we still have the luxury of having our parents with us

no matter what.

Now, you may be wondering what a faction is, their society

is broken up into different groups based off of their beliefs.

“Each faction is a group that has their own values. Abnegation

value selflessness, Dauntless value bravery, Candor value

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honesty, Amity value peacefulness, Erudite value knowledge.”

(Divergent real world connections, n.d.) Each of these factions

relate back to everyday people which helps us relate to them.

Abnegation are those who perform selfless acts, for example:

doctors, nurses or anyone who tries to make others feel better

and don’t worry about their own self as much. Dauntless are the

brave faces, the ones who would risk their lives to save yours.

This would be emergency workers (firefighters, police), or

soldiers. Candor are those who are always honest, in today’s

society not many people are always honest but a close example

would be a Judge figure. Amity are those who try to keep the

peace in the world. Erudite are knowledgeable but use it for the

right things, for example: surgeons.

Before they can choose which faction they think they belong

to, they have to take a test to see which one their personality

belongs to. Each faction has their own personal beliefs on which

characteristic is most important, but some people have multiple

beliefs and can fit into more than one faction; these people are

classified as Divergent. Right before the Ceremony, Jeanine, the

leader of Erudite, is talking to Tris and her family and states

“I want you to choose who you truly are and where you truly

belong. Not on a whim, not because you wish for someone you’re

not, but because you honestly know yourself. I want you to choose

wisely. And I know you will.” (Divergent quotes, n.d.)

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In this excerpt, Tris had just made a statement about how

the tests they take choose which faction they belong to and they

pretty much have no say in the decision, but Jeanine is stating

that it is just a suggestion, not a requirement. However, once

you choose a faction, you cannot change to a different one so in

order to stay away from becoming factionless, therefore you

should stick to your test results. Tris is at a crossroad because

the test was supposed to tell her which faction to choose,

however, she found out that she was Divergent and fit into many

different factions. This made it hard for her because she now had

a choice to make that would affect the rest of her life. If she

was to choose a faction that she doesn’t feel comfortable with,

then she has to stick with it otherwise she will be factionless.

Jeanine doesn’t know that Tris is Divergent because it would be

dangerous for Tris, later in the movie, if Jeanine had known that

she was Divergent from the start. This scene represents pathos

because it makes the audience believe that Jeanine actually cares

about where they feel they belong and just wants them to be

accepted, and in society today all anyone wants is to be

accepted. However, they really want them to choose the faction

that the test told them they belong to.

Continuing on with the scene, everyone takes their seats and

Jeanine announces, “The faction system is a living being composed

of cells; all of you. And the only way it can survive and thrive
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is for each of you to claim your rightful place. The future

belongs to those who know where they belong.” (Divergent quotes,

n.d.) This excerpt uses ethos to explain how a faction works, you

have to have the members of the faction working. Each faction

believes one characteristic is the most important characteristic.

If the faction members don’t hold up to their requirements, the

whole faction will crumble. Every piece is important in helping

the faction work and be successful.

After Jeanine gives this speech, Abnegation leader, Marcus

states, “When you leave this room, you will no longer be

dependents, but full-fledged members of our society. Faction

before blood.” (Divergent quotes, n.d.) This is an example of

logos because Marcus is stating that from this point on, they are

independent and are officially a member of the society. Although

their parents raised them, if they join a different faction, and

most of them do, they are no longer allowed to be in contact with

their own family. This may be hard on them at first, but

eventually they become so invested into their faction that they

usually forget about their original family anyway.

The Divergent series is a strong one to watch, it opens your

eyes to how our society could be and makes you appreciate that it

is not that way. Even though people may think that the society

would be better if it was split up into different groups, this

movie shows how destructive it would be to break down into

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specific groups based off of views. Also, the audience sees how

much Tris had to grow up during this time, she believed this

decision would affect the rest of her life, but she didn’t know

exactly how it would change her life. Tris connected with the

audience because of this transition she had to make in her life,

she showed that although it may be rough at the beginning, as

long as you don’t give up you can still end up on top. This is an

important message to get across to the people of today’s society,

do not get discouraged for the things you work for may not only

change your future, but all those around you as well.

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References

Divergent Clip | Choosing Factions. (n.d.). Retrieved February

11, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVhWf8qmQp8

Divergent Quotes: Lacks Vigor and Depth. (n.d.). Retrieved

February 11, 2016, from

http://www.moviequotesandmore.com/divergent-quotes/

Divergent Real World Connections. (n.d.). Retrieved February

11, 2016, from https://prezi.com/whkhj6_im3hg/divergent-real-

world-connections/