“Divergent” by Veronica Roth presents a richly developed protagonist, Tris Prior, in a dystopian society divided into factions. The book reveals more depth through Tris’s journey and the nuanced moral struggles she faces, along with well-rounded side characters. Unlike the film, the book fosters imagination, allowing for a deeper understanding of the plot and character motivations.
Author: Elisa Zanghieri
Divergent takes place in a dystopian universe, where the city of Chicago is cut off from the rest of the humanity, and the population is divided into 5 factions to work “toward a better society and a better world” (p.44). The factions are meant to balance each other out and after having grown up in their parents’ faction, at sixteen the people can choose which faction they want to spend the rest of their life in. Our protagonist, Beatrice “Tris” Prior, chooses the “brave and fearless” faction, called the Dauntless, which is a stark contrast to her faction of upbringing, the Abnegation, the “self-less and caring”. From then on, she trains for her initiation and admission into her new faction. Through this process she grows as a character and becomes stronger.
Dystopian books like Divergent, Maze Runner or The Hunger Games, have been turned into films due to the fame the books experienced. The filmed versions of those stories are continuously criticized for unfaithful retellings. You certainly know about at least one book that was filmed and did not exactly follow the plot (for valid reasons sometimes), leaving out so many important details. Numerous people, however, do not bother to read the book, before and or after seeing the film, which is why I am here to convince you to read the book Divergent by Veronica Roth, even though the film is rather good.
First, an evidently good feature of the book is the fact that the female protagonist is the agent. As Victoria Roth puts it, she is “always choosing, always acting, always moving the plot by her behaviour”. Her actions bring the story forward and make it intriguing. She certainly did not cause herself to get kidnapped and almost killed, but her efforts to actively improve her combat skills, thus rising in ranks, put a target on her back. Additionally, her skills improved throughout the book through a well-written slow development, instead of a sudden evolution of skills, which occurs too often in books and films.
Moreover, next to her skills’ development, her character traits and morals play a more prominent role in the book than in the film. For example, her motivation behind choosing her faction and the alterations in her character after joining the Dauntless, are literally spelled out in the book. Tris and her character development appear more evident to the book reader. A precise example is her acknowledgment of her own success in improving her negative qualities (e.g. her cowardice) while becoming aware that another negative quality replaces it (e.g. her cruelty).
Thirdly, to be fair, it is not always about the main character. The story per se has excellent side characters, but the book grants them a whole other dimension. They are well rounded and independent, and deal with their own lives detached from the protagonist. Four, the deuteragonist (aka co-protagonist) and love interest, is a good example for this. His “off-screen life” can be easily imagined, because he has a set of duties and values he follows, which result in his own life being very tumultuous, and independent from the protagonist. Tris does not find immediate loyal “followers” but instead meets fully developed characters with their own life and concerns who do not follow the unwritten rule “my personality and life revolve around the main character and their actions”. This gives her the chance to build her friendships more realistically. One might argue that Veronica Roth’s intention could have been to highlight the differences between the factions using her characters. Nonetheless she blessed us with rich and realistic side characters that few books have to offer.
Finally, while the Divergent film is good and the casting was spot on, nothing compares to your own imagination when you read. Setting aside the countless benefits for your health and state of mind, fostering your imagination through reading books makes them, one, more enjoyable and two, more understandable than the movies. It is widely known that directors encounter a few problems in terms of marketability of the stories, their length, their detail etc. So, sometimes the filmed version of a book lacks context for good reasons. However, my personal experience while reading Divergent is that watching the film helped me imagine some places better. But now that I think about it, this preconception limited me to believe that one sole truth of, for example, a certain place. And does that not defeat the purpose of books? The variety of what each one of us can imagine from the tellings of a book is what makes them special to us.
In conclusion, I would recommend this book even if you have already watched the film adaptation. The depth it gives and imagination it allows the reader to have makes it a special experience. Your understanding of the characters, both main character and side characters, is broader, including monologues that the film lacked, thus missing a lot of context. Through the written version, you get invested in the story in a livelier way, with a plot driven by the main character’s actions, including reasonable turn of events and fully developed characters. It is a well thought out plot and, in my opinion, reading the book gives you more profound insights into the story than the film. This being said reading the book and then watching the movie will give you the best experience.
Edited by: Elisa Zhanghieri; Darius Steen;
Cover Image: Courtesy of https://eskipaper.com/
