Divergent Thinking
Read Divergent Thinking Online
Authors: Leah Wilson
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DIVERGENT
THINKING
DIVERGENT
THINKING
YA AUTHORS ON VERONICA ROTH'S
DIVERGENT TRILOGY
EDITED BY LEAH WILSON
THIS PUBLICATION IS UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORIZED. IT HAS NOT BEEN PREPARED, APPROVED, AUTHORIZED, LICENSED, OR ENDORSED BY ANY ENTITY THAT CREATED OR PRODUCED THE WELL-KNOWN DIVERGENT BOOK OR FILM SERIES.
© 2014 BenBella Books, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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First e-book edition: March 2014
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Divergent Thinking : YA Authors on Veronica Roth's Divergent Trilogy / edited by Leah Wilson.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-939529-92-3 (paperback) â ISBN 978-1-940363-34-9 (electronic) 1. Roth, Veronica. Divergent series. 2. Young adult fiction, AmericanâHistory and criticism. I. Wilson, Leah, editor of compilation.
PS3618.O8633Z58 2014
813'.6âdc23
                                 Â
2013049188
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COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“From Factions to Fire Signs” © 2014 by Rosemary Clement-Moore
“Divergent Psychology” © 2014 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
“Mapping Divergent's Chicago” © 2014 by V. Arrow
“Choices Can Be Made Again” © 2014 by Maria V. Snyder and Jenna Snyder
“Ordinary Acts of Bravery” © 2014 by Elizabeth Norris
“Fear and the Dauntless Girl” © 2014 by Blythe Woolston
“They Injure Each Other in the Same Way” © 2014 by Mary Borsellino
“Secrets and Lies” © 2014 by Debra Driza
“Bureau versus Rebels: Which Is Worse?” © 2014 by Dan Krokos
“Factions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” © 2014 by Julia Karr
“The Downfall of Dauntless” © 2014 by Janine K. Spendlove
“Emergent” © 2014 by Elizabeth Gatland
Images © 2014 by Risa Rodil,
RisaRodil.com
Faction and Chicago location icons © 2014 by Risa Rodil,
RisaRodil.com
Water Tower Place photograph courtesy Jrissman,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WaterTowerPlaceMall.JPG
Harold Washington Library photograph courtesy Beyond My Ken,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harold_Washington_Library_southwest_owl.jpg
Flamingo photograph courtesy Richie Diesterheft,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/puroticorico/
CONTENTS
Rosemary Clement-Moore
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
V. Arrow
Maria V. Snyder and Jenna Snyder
Elizabeth Norris
Blythe Woolston
THEY INJURE EACH OTHER IN THE SAME WAY
Mary Borsellino
Debra Driza
BUREAU VERSUS REBELS: WHICH IS WORSE?
Dan Krokos
FACTIONS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Julia Karr
Janine K. Spendlove
Elizabeth Wein
A lot of people have called the Divergent trilogy “the next Hunger Games.” It's a fair comparison in some ways: they're both science-fiction dystopias with prickly, complex heroines. They've both left millions of readers thinking about them long after reading their final pages (even ifâor maybe in part becauseâtheir endings were a little controversial). And, like many other dystopias, they both wrestle with the idea of control and how we resist it.
But where the Hunger Games engages with control on a societal level, the Divergent trilogy is more focused on the personal. Where the Hunger Games tells a story about rebellion and social change as much as it does about its protagonist's efforts to subvert others' use of her, Divergent is interested in a different kind of freedomâfrom exploitation, yes, but also from the labels society puts on us and the subtle pressures of others' expectations. From our individual fears and from our personal histories. These things may shape us, the Divergent trilogy says, but they do not control us.
Allegiant
introduces us to two different, though interrelated, agents of control. First, there's the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, the organization that designed Tris' city hundreds of years ago as an experiment, constantly monitors its goings-on, and steps in (either directly, by wiping memories, or American imperialistâstyle, by supplying weapons to the side they like best) whenever that experiment's integrity is threatened. Second, there's genetic damage, whichâthe Bureau claimsâcontrols one's nature so thoroughly that the kindest thing to do for a GD is take away her identity and sequester her in a community where she can be more effectively controlled. (After all, look at the way they live outside those communities, in the fringe!)
At first,
Allegiant'
s focus on the Bureau and genetics makes the book feel like a strange departure from the earlier parts of Tris' story. But it eventually becomes clear that this new world, the one outside the city, is just another version of the one we came to know in
Divergent
and
Insurgent,
that microcosm writ largeâa more familiar mirror, a world one step closer to our own, in which the trilogy's earlier themes are reflected. We've seen the unfeeling, arrogant scientists before, in Jeanine and the Erudite, who use their serums and superior knowledge to manipulate and control (in the case of the Dauntless, quite literally). We've seen, in the factions, the idea that there is something innate that determines the course of your lifeâan inborn quality you can test for, that tells you who you should associate with and what jobs you can do.
In both worlds, Tris proves herself to be a hero. And in both worlds, she does so in a way that shows that heroism is a choice you make, not something you're born with.
In the context of the trilogy's first two books, Tris is our hero because she is Divergentâbecause she is aware during simulations, but even more important, because she cannot be contained by any one of her city's labels . . . even if she must pretend to be. Her Divergence puts her in danger, but it also means she has a choice: both at the Choosing Ceremony and in every moment after.
The thing is, though,
everyone
in her city has a choiceâat least in theory. That's why it's called a
Choosing
Ceremony. Caught between the desire to choose Dauntless and the expectation she will choose Abnegation, Tris defies her upbringing and chooses to be brave. But every one of her fellow sixteen-year-olds has the option to choose as well, not according to social pressure and not according to their test results, but according to their own valuesâaccording to who they
want
to be rather than who their family and history has made them. We know Tris' father made his choice this way when he left Erudite for Abnegation. It could be argued Tobias does, too, despite his claim to have chosen Dauntless out of cowardice. Neither of them is Divergent. (Nor are the other transfers in Tris' Dauntless initiate class, for that matter.) And both are successful as transfers. Tobias finishes first in his initiate class; Tris' father is a well-regarded councilman. Their successes are just two of many, many examples in the Divergent trilogy that, even if they are “genetically damaged,” human beings have the ability to learn and to grow. Ultimately,
we
are the ones in control of what and who we become.
