Unlike The Hunger Games, I went into the film Divergent with
no knowledge or expectations. I had not read the books or even heard about them
before watching the movie. I love films that bring up interesting questions and
make me think, and this one did not disappoint. In fact, I was so intrigued
that I rushed to get the first book in the trilogy … finished it in no time and
quickly read the remaining books.
Divergent takes place in a future Chicago 100 years after an
apocalyptic war. The city is fenced off from the rest of the world, and when
the Great Peace was established society was separated into five different
factions each one dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue: Candor
(honesty), Abnegation (selflessness), Erudite (intelligence), Amity (kindness)
and Dauntless (bravery). The factions were formed in a belief that this could
keep the peace. The Candor thought dishonesty caused conflict, the Abnegation,
selfishness, the Erudite, stupidity, Amity believed being unkind led to the war
and Dauntless believed bravery would keep war at bay.
Once a year all the 16 year olds are given a test that
determines which faction they belong. They then attend a Choosing Ceremony
where they are given a choice: stay with their family and faction of birth or
choose a different faction. Beatrice (Tris) Prior belongs to the Abnegation
faction and her tests were ‘inconclusive,’ which she discovers means she is
Divergent. People who are Divergent score high in multiple factions, and they
are feared by many who want to eliminate them.
The government is run by the Abnegation, who being selfless have
no desire for power. While this sounds appealing…who wouldn’t want politicians
who are selfless and not after their own gain or power, it also seems a bit
confusing. Wouldn’t selfless also include kindness? And why would they not also
be truthful? We have lots of politicians who aren’t truthful and we know how dysfunctional
that can be. I can’t imagine anyone who is selfless being deceitful unless
doing so would somehow benefit the other. I can understand why they might not be
dauntless or brave or even intelligent.
This film raises some interesting points. Is it beneficial
to focus more on one particular trait to the exclusion of the others? There is
an online test you can take, which I took and tested as divergent. I imagine
everyone who takes the test will find they are divergent. I doubt there is
anyone who has one quality to the exclusion of all others. We may be stronger
in one or two, but my guess is only someone with a mental illness would be
totally devoid of all of the other factions. http://divergentthemovie.com/aptitudetest
Another element of the movie that I found very compelling
was the tests that each faction had to endure to qualify for their particular
faction. For the Dauntless it was facing your fears. I think all of us could
benefit by facing our fears to some extent. What I found incredulous was that
the character Four had only four fears. Wow! I’d like to think I don’t have
many fears, but I suspect there are a bunch of them hidden in my consciousness.
I’m not sure I’d want to have to face them in a simulation, but I imagine it
could be pretty powerful. Some of my fears I’m sure are hidden, and some poke
their heads up on an almost daily basis. While I have many of the common ones
like the fear of spiders and snakes, I also have a very unhealthy and unnerving
fear of developing Alzheimer’s. I’m not sure why I have that fear, but I’d love
to fight it in a simulation and crush it once and for all. Whenever it pops its
head I simply do a ‘denial’ and an ‘affirmation’ to send it on its way…but
fighting it in a duel and winning sounds pretty empowering.
I’ve read the other two books and I know what happens with
the whole society and the Factions and the Divergents. I won’t spoil it here
for those of you waiting to watch the movies. But I will say this….if you liked
Divergent, you will love continuing with the story. I can’t wait to write about
Insurgent when it comes out in March of next year.
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