This book is about a girl named Beatrice Prior who is 16, lived with her brother, Caleb, and her parents Andrew and Natalie. There are five factions; Abnegation, who value selflessness, Dauntless, who value bravery, Candor, who value honesty, Amity, who value peace, and Erudite, who value intelligence. The Priors live in Abnegation. When all the 16 year olds from all the factions come together to do the aptitude tests, Beatrice was scared, although she did not show it. When she got out of her aptitude test, she was informed that she was Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. When you are ranked with more than one faction, you are called Divergent, which is very dangerous. During the Choosing Ceremony, Beatrice chose Dauntless, the faction that values courage and bravery. She did a lot of crazy things such as jumping off trains, playing Capture the Flag, shooting guns, and throwing knifes. Since everyone said that she could change her personality, she decided to change her name to Tris. She met some friends like Christina, Al, and Will. She also met some rivals such as Molly, Peter, and Drew as well as her instructor Four, who treats her differently than the others, and Eric, a young but evil leader.
Some questions that have been solved and some that I still wonder about are:
- Why didn’t Natalie tell Tris that she came from Dauntless?
- Is Natalie also a Divergent?
- Why was the factionless man holding onto Tris instead of being thankful for the food he got?
- Was Andrew angry at Tris because she didn’t choose Abnegation or was he really too busy to come and visit her?
- How did Natalie recognize Four?
- Was Four an Abnegation before?
- Is Eric jealous of Four?
- Did Tris’s parents ever notice that Caleb wanted to be Erudite?
- What pushed Four to not want to be a leader?
- Does Christina die when Eric makes her hang against the fence?
- Why can’t the 16 year olds tell their parents what they want to choose?
- Is it because the parents may influence them?
- Will Al be kicked out of Dauntless and become factionless?
- Why does Christina forbid Tris from telling Eric who stabbed Edward?
- Does Tris go to Caleb and tells him about the simulation serum?
- How does Natalie find out that Tris is a Divergent without telling her?
- Do Tris and Four end up dating?
- How did Eric grow up to be so cruel?
- Do some children break the rules of their faction?
- What made Erudite and Abnegation turn against each other?
One passage that I found interesting was on page 187 paragraph 10 when Natalie told Tris to go see Caleb and find out what the simulation serum was. I found this interesting because Natalie was already being suspicious but then it made me think that she is hiding something bigger. I also found this interesting because it wasn’t something that Tris would be able to do until a couple of chapters, which made this a cliffhanger. Another passage I thought was interesting was on page 34 paragraph 8 when Andrew was talking about a report about his co-worker Marcus and his son, Tobias who left Abnegation for Dauntless two years ago because Marcus abused him. I found this interesting because at first I didn’t realize it but after a while, I figured out that Four’s real name is Tobias. I already knew that he was 18 which made more sense because two years ago he was sixteen, during the choosing ceremony. Another reason I found this interesting was because this was one of those moments where the paragraph makes no sense at first, but later you notice that it carries lot of information .
One think I can infer that Tris is really brave. I can infer this because in the text on page 60 paragraph 8 it said, “Four--looks over his shoulder and shouts. ‘First jumper-Tris’” which is a big act of bravery. Another reason I thought Tris was brave was because in the text on page 163 paragraph 6 it says, “The knife is buried in the board, half a foot away from my cheek.” Explaining that she took Al’s place in front of the target to save her friend from getting hurt. The last reason I think that Tris is brave is because in the text on page 203 paragraph 7 it says, “When the nurse arrives, she tells me to step back, and I do. My hands and knees are soaked with blood,” telling us that she was helping Edward who was hurt instead of just standing there, like most of the other initiates. Another thing I infer is about Four and that he is a mysterious character. I inferred this because in the text on page 95 paragraph 7 and 8 it says,“‘A brave man never surrenders,’ Eric says, and Four and Eric stare at each other for a few seconds.” I found this quite interesting because Eric may have knew something the rest didn’t know. Another reason I inferred this about Four is because on page 125 paragraph 4 and 5 it says, “‘Why didn’t you get a government job?’ ‘I didn’t want one,’ Four says flatly.” Telling Peter he ranked first. I also found this interesting because if you would rank first you would usually want to have a good job, especially if it is in your reach. Except he did not want one, which meant something may have been stopping him.