Reading Response #3 DIVERGENT

Evy Rahmey 802 ELA           Divergent Reading Response                           11/6/14

Many people live their lives taking baby steps, and that is a detrimental problem. The book Divergent, by Veronica Roth, demonstrates a life where the protagonist is put in situations where taking risks and trying new things are essential in order to proceed in life. Divergent is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Tris who is living in a dystopian society where there are five factions to enhabit; Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Erudite, and Dauntless. Tris is living with her family in Abnegation. At age sixteen, she is given the aptitude test which determines what faction is recommended for her to switch to. Only one result is supposed to be given, but, if more than one result is given, you are deemed Divergent. This means that you don’t fit into one single faction. According to this society, being Divergent is a bad thing to be, and one must keep their Divergent identity a secret. At the choosing ceremony, which is when you choose which faction you want to continue living in for the rest of your life, Tris chooses Dauntless, not knowing what would happen in that faction. Throughout the book, the reader gets a good look at both the protagonists life changes in the Dauntless faction and the lifestyles of other factions. By looking at the way Tris advances in the book, we can see that sometimes it’s better to take risks and step out of your comfort zone.

In the beginning of the book, Tris is smacked in the face with a huge decision and a tough problem. After taking the aptitude test, Tris is categorized as Divergent because she fits into Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. Subsequently, she has to decide which faction she wants to live the rest of her life in. However, Tris has a lot of trouble deciding which faction would be best for her. For instance, during the choosing ceremony, Tris says, “In the last circle are five metal bowls so large they could hold my entire body, if I curled up. Each one contains a substance that represents each faction: gray stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, lit coals for Dauntless, and glass for Candor. When Marcus calls my name, I will walk to the center of the three circles. I will not speak. He will offer me a knife. I will cut into my hand and sprinkle my blood into the bowl of the faction that I choose. My blood on the stones. My blood sizzling on the coals.” This quote portrays Tris’s hardships when picking the faction she will live in because she can’t perfectly fit into one faction. Additionally, I think that by looking at this scene, it is evident that Tris has a lot of trouble embracing her Divergence because she wants to be normal and she doesn’t want to have more weight on her shoulders by secretly being an outcast. But, throughout the time she has deciding which faction to go to, Tris always comes back to the realization that Abnegation is better for her because she’s familiar to it. In contrast to this behavior, Tris ends up choosing Dauntless, which she knows hardly anything of. Later on in the same scene of the choosing ceremony, Tris says, “I hold the knife in my right hand and touch the blade to my palm. Gritting my teeth, I drag the blade down. It stings, but I barely notice. I hold both hands to my chest, and my next breath shudders on the way out. I open my eyes and thrust my arm out. My blood drips onto the carpet between the two bowls. Then, with a gasp I can’t contain, I shift my hand forward, and my blood sizzles on the coals. I am selfish. I am brave.” It is here that we’re first introduced to the Tris that experiments with new ideas and begins to take risks that will shape her life for the better. Having Tris pick Dauntless not only shows how she’s willing to take risks, but also how it almost seems as if she may be ready for stuff that may come out of the blue. By analyzing this quote, we can see how once Tris submits her decision to be Dauntless, she instantaneously accepts it and she seems okay with taking an enormous risk by jumping into a life in which she has no prior knowledge of.

Towards the middle of the book, Tris begins to settle into her new faction and has met new people, both friends and enemies. At one point, Tris and the rest of the Dauntless initiates play a game of capture the flag on a large stretch of land. While her team argues about their plan, Tris sees a good opportunity to get a look at the whole terrain and look for the other teams flag. “I grab a rung. It’s rusty and thin and feels like it might crumble in my hands. I put my weight on the lowest rung to test it and jump to make sure it will hold me up. The movement hurts my ribs, and I wince.” Here, it shows how Tris is taking a risk to guide her team to victory. She is enduring the pain and trying something that may hurt her, but she knows that in the end, it will help both her and her team. This makes me think that trying new things is a beneficial thing to do because it teaches you how to overcome fears, which will help later in life. Tris continues to take risks when she and the Dauntless initiates are throwing knives against a target. After one of the initiates, Al sloppily throws his knives, he is forced to stand in front of a target and not flinch as knives are thrown near him. Tris decided to take his place. “‘An idiot can stand in front of a target,’ I say. ‘It doesn’t prove anything except that you’re bullying us (the initiates). Which, as I recall, is a sign of cowardice.’ ‘Then it should be easy for you,’ Eric says. ‘If you’re willing to take his (Al’s) place.’ The last thing I want to do is stand in front of a target, but I can’t back down now. I didn’t leave myself the option.” This quote shows how Tris is risking herself in order to protect her friend Al. By looking at this scenario, I can see that this is a beneficial risk to take because it, firstly, teaches her more about selflessness and protecting others, and, secondly, it helps Tris prepare for if a situation as violent and scary as that were to ever happen again.

One of Tris’s largest risks is at the end of the book. During a war in which Erudite uses themselves and puts Dauntless soldiers under stimulation, Tobias, who is Tris’s advisor in Dauntless, is also Divergent, and is now Tris’s boyfriend as well, is brainwashed and controls the stimulations themselves. Tris makes her way into the control room, after taking many smaller risks and fighting her way to get to this room, and she is faced with the confused and mostly angry Tobias. But, she doesn’t move out of the room. Instead, she tries to get him out of his stimulation. “I set my gun down at my feet. ‘Drop your weapon!’ shouts Tobias. ‘I did’, I say. A little voice sings that he can’t hear me, he can’t see me, he doesn’t know me”….”I can’t beat Tobias in a fight, I know that already. But I have to destroy the computer. I dive for the gun, but before I can touch it, he grabs me and wrenches me to the side.” This scene shows not only the risk Tris is taking by not giving up and walking out of the room to save herself, but it shows that some risks feed off of determination, and that in order for someone to take a leap of faith, they must be determined to experience the end result. Tris trying to save Tobias is an example of a healthy risk because she believes she can save him and she needs him in her life; it shows how much she loves him. If Tris gave up, it would show her as a person who had no faith in herself, which would be unhealthy for her. Overall, Tris’s decision to remain with Tobias was helpful to both Tobias and her.

In Divergent by Veronica Roth, the protagonist gets through many complicated situations by 

taking risks and giving new things a try. By taking a close look at the risks Tris takes, we can see that trying new things and taking risks feed off of a desire or determination to either want or conquer something, or they feed off of love. Tris’s courage, bravery, and the way she takes risks show the reader that stepping out of your comfort zone is a very good thing to do. Also, by looking at the plot of the book, it shows how taking that huge jump is extremely beneficial because there may be an obstacle that pops into your life that is hard to overcome by taking baby steps. Risk taking is preparation for things that may pop up in the future. In our lives today, we are forced to take many risks, just as Tris has to. Though we don’t live in a dystopian society, we do have some bad aspects, as well as good, in our lives and trying new things is the key to moving on in life. Trying new things is crucial in our lives. The adjustment to having to try in life is a huge one, but a beneficial and important one. In conclusion, Taking risks can be a beneficial thing, and the way Tris progresses in Divergent proves this.