Summary and Reflection on Divergent by Veronica Roth

Divergent is a book that its main topic is the division of people in certain spaces depending on the virtue people had to develop in that space. Not only division it’s like the main topic at all, but there are also a lot of other characteristics that could explain in a word the topic of the book, the envy is another characteristic that could explain more about that sub-category that gives us a point of view of the trilogy.

Having in mind that is a story based on a futuristic world or society that is divided into 5 factions, each one recognized by a specific value or virtue. These factions are called: Abnegation where its recognized by selflessness, Amity by the value of peace, Erudite by knowledge, Candor by Honesty, and dauntless bravery, people who don’t fit in any faction could be divergent, that means that has the 5 virtues of each faction but you could be killed if someone knows that, or you could be factionless, and there’s no explanation for that because the same name explains what it means.

Children are raised up in their parent’s faction until they turn sixteen, at this age they take an aptitude test that would tell them which faction is appropriated to choose, at the same time they would have the option of choose any other faction or stay in the faction they grew up, with the condition that if they choose one faction, they must be in there for the rest of the life. At this point the world is normal, every faction it’s okay but when one group of different factions did the aptitude test, the story change step by step.

Beatrice is a sixteen-year-old girl who used to live in abnegation with her parents Andrew and Natalie Prior, her and Brother Caleb. Both took the aptitude test that will tell them what faction is the one they are more appropriate for. The test consists of a simulation of some situations they have to confront and try to save their lives. There’s something strange in Beatrice test results, because Beatrice showed an aptitude in Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless, three different factions meaning that she is something called Divergent, something really dangerous in her society for what she is prohibited to never tell anyone her results in the test because she could be in danger and would risk her life. Finally, after a lot of frustration and thoughts of changing or staying in abnegation, in the ceremony, Beatrice decided to switch to Dauntless and Caleb to Erudite. But before that Beatrice and Caleb exchanged some words with the principal Antagonist of this book, named Jeanine Matthews, her principle plans were to control dauntless faction with the serum and make disappear abnegation faction because he believed or she wanted to have the whole control of all.

In dauntless Beatrice changed her name to Tris, and decided to change the way of life she had, because she believed that she was the weakest person, she thought that in that way she could start over again, being a new person in this new place. In dauntless faction, Tris met a lot of people that help her to be the first person in the rank table, and it was incredible because starting she was at the last position. Some of the persons were: Christina, they know each other since the first day that they were transferred, Christina was from Candor. Another person closely was Will; he was one of the newborn-initiate participants. And at least they were a lot of new characters in this dauntless compound like Eric that was one of the dauntless leaders, he was a really strict leader, he helped Jeanine and he was in charge of injecting the serum. He was four’s first rival, but who is four?, Four is the principal support of Tris, his real name is Tobias, and his father is Marcus, he is one of the council members of abnegation, he abused intensively his son , and that’s why Marcus was the biggest fear of Tobias. He believed and trusts strongly in Tris, well she was his girlfriend. Tobias was born in abnegation, and he has a tattoo of each symbol of each faction.

In Dauntless there are some tests that everyone has to make it because they will be evaluated, and who passes the 3 levels of tests they’re going to be dauntless members. There are only ten places that will become dauntless members. The rest will become factionless, as their name says; they don’t belong to any faction and are forced to live in poverty in the streets of the city.

At least Tris and four began a secret relationship as she founded out Four’s true identity when he reveals it. This same day Tris decided to go to Erudite without telling anyone to visit Caleb as her mom told her. When she arrived she had a confrontation with Jeanine Matthews the leader of Erudite. Tris suspects that this woman was making secret plans with Dauntless to kill all the Divergent, later she founded out that Erudite was going to use Dauntless as the plan of a war against Abnegation when four warned her after she came back.

Finally, Tris went through her final simulation, where she had to conquer all of her fears, one after another. Once again she ranked first and she became an official member of the fraction of Dauntless. Later on that day she realized that the leaders where injecting everyone a supposedly track device, but Tris knew they were lying and that they were injecting a simulation serum that Janine, Erudite’s leader passed to Eric, Dauntless leader to fight to Abnegation. That night everyone except Tris and Tobias waked up and had a sleepy walk, they both are Divergent and Divergent could resist the serum. They founded themselves while they were pretending to walk in a sleepy way like the rest. At the moment that Eric “accidentally” tried to kill Tobias they two fought back and where taken to the office of Erudite where Jeanine the principal antagonist of the story took Tobias into a simulation test and in the next morning sent Tris to a large tank like the ones that appeared in her simulation tests to be drowned and finally killed because a shot in the shoulder the day before didn’t execute her. At that moment Tris’s mother appears and rescued her, she was going to take her to the hidden place where her brother and her father were but on their way, Tris’s mother died, as she needed to sacrifice herself to make sure that her daughter could escape.

from that moment and on, in the novel happened a lot of things, some abnegation people needed to help Tris to stop the serum simulation, because it would kill more than half of the Dauntless participants, so Caleb and Tris’s father did a very structure plan in which they need to trust Tris and made everything she needs to, that was the only way they could survive and help the rest, but Tris didn’t know that her treasure Tobias, was seeing her with eyes of hate because of the serum simulation, but the power of Tris was really brave and she helped Tobias to get out of that simulation, and they stopped all the disaster Jeanine created.

Finally, everyone discovered a lot of lies of everybody on Erudite, but whatever comes next Tobias and Tris Go farther away, and they will be prepared because they’re together.

In conclusion I want to express that Divergent is a book really interesting, the reason is that people could have different messages from the book, like egocentrism it’s really marked because they were fighting because they believed that one faction should be the only one managing every faction, the other one is the subdivision that is totally clear in that futuristic society, where we already know that in our society everybody is classified in classes, so it shows us too many realities, and finally maybe some people should think that if our world keeps going like its now, we should end like that or worst, because we’re fighting at each other, and we should be worried about other things, that people do not take responsibility for.

Works Cited

1. Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. HarperCollins.
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