First in yet another dystopian young adult Trilogy, this novel managed to catch my attention with its familiar Chicago setting, promising premise, intense action-packed scenes, seeming absence of the predictable love triangle (at least in this first book) and its fearless heroine, Beatrice. Raised by Abnegation parents, she has reached the appointed day to take the Aptitude test that will clearly show the faction she should belong to forever: Abnegation (the selfless), Candor (the honest), Erudite (the intelligent), Amity (the peaceful) or Dauntless ( the brave). But the results of her test shows she is none of those. She is Divergent, a fact she needs to keep a secret. So she chooses the Dauntless faction and goes through its grueling initiation. Will being Divergent help her or destroy her?
'There is one mirror in my house. It is behind a sliding panel in the hallway upstairs. Our faction allows me to stand in front of it on the second day of every third month, the day my mother cuts my hair.'(opening lines)
'"Yes and no. My conclusion," she explains, "is that you display equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. People who get this kind of result are..." She looks over her shoulder like she expects someone to appear behind her. "... are called... Divergent." She says the last word so quietly that I almost don't hear it, and her tense, worried look returns.'(22)
'The reason for the simplicity isn't disdain for uniqueness, as the other factions have sometimes interpreted it. Everything -- our houses, our clothes, our hairstyles -- is meant to help us forget ourselves and to protect us from vanity, greed, and envy, which are just forms of selfishness. If we have little, and want for little, and we are all equal, we envy no one.'(27-28)
'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 my hand and sprinkle my blood into the bowl of the faction I choose.
My blood on the stones. My blood sizzling on the coals.'(40)
'Decades ago our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather, they determined that it was the fault of human personality -- of humankind's inclination toward evil, in whatever form that is. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray.'(42)
'Those who blamed aggression formed Amity. ... Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite. ... Those who blamed duplicity created Candor. ... Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation. ... And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless.'(42-43)
'My father says that those who want power and get it live in terror of losing it. That's why we have to give power to those who do not want it.'(68)
'Would I even be strong enough to hold on to her? Would it be worth my effort to try to help her if I know I'm too weak to do any good?
I know that those questions are: excuses. Human reason can excuse any evil; that is why it's important that we don't rely on it.'(102)
'I believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another.'(207)
'I sob again, and force myself forward, stretching out on the grass, which prickles against my skin. I extend my arms and breathe. Crows push and prod at my sides, worming their way beneath me, and I let them. I let the flapping of wings and the squawking and the pecking and the prodding continue, relaxing one muscle at a time, resigning myself to becoming a pecked carcass.'(235)
'But becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it, that's the point.'(239)
'The rhythm of his breaths slows, and I prop myself up to see if he is asleep. He lies on his stomach with one arm around his head. His eyes are closed, his lips parted. For the first time, he looks as young as he is, and I wonder who he really is. Who is he when he isn't Dauntless, isn't an instructor, isn't Four, isn't anything in particular?'(288)
'I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless.
I am Divergent.
And I can't be controlled.'(442)
a Katherine Tegen Book Edition
487 pages
Book borrowed from the Library
Book qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge
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