Diverging Opinions on Divergent

           

 Flying in on the tails (& wings) of the hugely popular Hunger Games series comes a new dystopian series featuring a heroine  who continues in the same vein as Katniss Everdeen : the strong female savior.  Divergent and its sequels Insurgent and Allegiant, follow the self-discovery of  teenage Beatrice Prior as she participates in a war among factions  Author Veronica Roth began Divergent several years ago while still an undergraduate at Northwestern University.  Set in a future Chicago where the Lake has dried up and the Willis (Sears) Tower is a crumbling ruin, each faction has one predominent quality :  Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peace/goodwill), Erudite (knowledge), Candor (honesty) and Dauntless (bravery).  So which house does our heroine Beatrice fit into?  Oops, sorry,  that’s from the Harry Potter series.  A lot of the plot devices in these books are derivative from other popular books for young people.  Beatrice, now Tris,  chooses Dauntless, although she possesses qualities which  would allow her to fit into several other  factions.  She undergoes a  grueling initiation process, both physically and mentally.  Not too surprising, she is also confused about her growing attraction to Four, an antagonist teacher & mentor of the new initiates of their faction.  Outside the world of Dauntless training, the other factions are laying the groundwork to try and wrest control over the others.  Civil war breaks out, with plenty of traitors and twists.  It will take two more books before Tris’s world and her romantic situation resolve themselves. 

Violence is a key component of  Divergent.  Characters face deadly challenges, traumatic situations, fight and kill each other on a regular basis.  Should we be concerned that this prevalence of violence will have an undesirable effect on readers, especially those in middle school?  It’s not just teens who are reading Divergent.  Grade schoolers are devouring this exciting, easy to read sci- fi thriller that features characters not too much older than themselves.  The book is usually recommended for ages 12+, but nothing tempts a reader like being told not to read it.

School shootings and violence are a result of a much more complicated social situation than the popularity of books like Hunger Games and Divergent.  In fact, lessons in good and evil are presented throughout the story.  The use of violence is judicious.  The teen protagonists are fighting to change an existing evil situation.  So even though there are bad things happening, every story is about young people working to dramatically improve their entire worlds - not just get by under horrible conditions.  An earlier sci-fi classic, Ender’s Game, contained similar themes of youth being chosen for a mission of salvation/destruction.  Younger readers will see Divergent as an exciting escapist adventure.  So if your middle schoolers wants to read Divergent, or Ender’s Game, or The Hunger Games, let them have a go.  Read it yourself and talk about the book with him/her. Ask what they thought of it.  That’s the best way to see how the violence in these books is affecting its readers.   If you or your teen readers get sucked into this addictive genre, here are a few more suggestions:

Want something a little gentler?  Try this( sort of) sub-genre: Dystopian YA Hiromance:

                  

If you are concerned about the appropriateness of reading material & movies for your children, one source for reviews based on family values is Common Sense Media.  This unpartisan website offers indepth reviews and recommendations, based on principles such as “We can’t cover their eyes, but we can teach them to see.”