The Divergent series by Veronica Roth is hands down my favorite book series ever written. (Disclaimer: It is not my favorite just because Theo James stars in the movie.)
In case you have not read the books or seen the movie, the main concept is that the story takes place in a post-war society. In this society there are five factions: Erudite, Abnegation, Amity, Candor, and Dauntless. Each faction represents a different virtue. In this society, when you turn 16 you have to take an aptitude test to see which faction you belong in.
When the main character Beatrice Prior (Tris) takes the test, she is told that her results were inconclusive, which means she is divergent. This means that she is a combination of multiple factions. In this society, being divergent is dangerous because they do not conform to society. They are uncontrollable.
Each faction represents a characteristic of a person. The Erudite values knowledge and intelligence. The Abnegation practices selflessness. The Amity values peace and kindness. The Candor values honesty. The Dauntless values bravery.
Like I said earlier, divergents do not conform to one specific faction. Tris, for example, was a combination of Erudite, Abnegation and Dauntless. She was intelligent, selfless and brave. Being divergent means that you have more than one dominate virtue in who you are.
People generally want to strive to achieve perfection. In this post-war society, perfection is basically the form of a divergent. However, this “perfection” is dangerous according to their leaders because of the divergent’s inability to conform. People tend to want to be smart, selfless, kind, honest and brave. They want all of these qualities about themselves in order to be a “perfect” person.
Throughout Divergent, the leaders in the society are extremely against divergents. The leaders even take measures to attempt - and in some cases succeed - to murder them. This is kind of ironic to me because in their society, having all of these or even a small combination of them is "dangerous" and "not accepted." However in our society, obtaining all of these virtues is important to our lives and futures as individuals.
Throughout this trilogy, Roth has a way of taking this fictitious story and makes it seem and feel as though it is real. The correlation that this article makes to the real world is only one of very many things that are comparable between our lives and this series. Most people have a divergent way of thinking, even if that thinking does not carry out into their personalities.
I believe that all of these virtues intertwine. In some situations in which you are brave, you could easily be selfless. By being selfless, you are also representing peace and kindness. With kindness comes honesty, and with honesty comes knowledge. In a way, it is like you cannot have one of these virtues without another following along with it.
Striving to have these virtues in our lives is highly important for our growth and success as human beings. By aspiring to gain these qualities about ourselves, we can learn a lot about who we are as an individual. If you have not read these books, I highly encourage you to do so. While reading this trilogy, I found a lot of lessons that I could apply to my life individually. There are many symbols throughout the series that just make Divergent - along with its sequels Insurgent and Allegiant - an incredible and indescribable read.
