Since it has been quite some time since my last blog post, rather than
jump right into the meat of the post I'd like to take a brief moment to reflect
on what I have been up to reading-wise lately. During my Spring Break, I found
myself with a lot free time on my hands and a lot of gross weather which
definitely prompted me to do a lot of reading. After seeing Divergent the day
it came out, I was reminded of my love for the book and decided to begin the
second book, Insurgent. I could hardly put this book down all of Spring
Break, and I found myself reading it whenever possible, whether it be while
making myself dinner, in the car, or before bed. I ended up finishing the book
in just a few days.This is the most reading I've had the time to do in a while,
and I'm glad I was able to get caught up on some reading during Spring Break. I
hope everyone else was too! Also, as a side note, if you are looking for
something to read, I would DEFINITELY recommend the Divergent series.
But enough rave about the book, I would now like to begin to reflect on my
true intentions for this post(as you can see in the title), I would like to
discuss how Insurgent showcases how society impacts the individual. If
you are unfamiliar with Divergent, some background information will be
necessary in order to understand this post. In Divergent, throughout the
novel there are five factions who value five different human qualities as the
most important quality to possess in life. These five factions work
together in life, although they are separated, providing different services
based on their beliefs. These factions include: Abnegation(believe in
selflessness and are leaders in the government), Amity(believe in happiness and
peace and work in agriculture), Candor(believe in honesty and work in law)
Dauntless(believe in bravery and provide defense and protection), and
Erudite(believe in intelligence and work as researchers, scientists, teachers,
etc.). Individuals get to choose which faction they wish to be a part of when
they turn 16, and this is the system upon which society has worked for a very
long time. The main character Tris, transferred from Abnegation to Dauntless at
16, leaving behind her family for a new way of life. At the beginning of Insurgent,
the society is beginning to crumble. Erudite has overthrown the Abnegation
government and murdered most of the faction through mind controlling
simulations over the Dauntless faction. Now Erudite is "in control"
with the help of half of the Dauntless, half of the Dauntless faction as
well as the Candor are against Erudite, and Amity wishes to remain neutral in
the Conflict.
Now, giving all of this background information does have a point behind it.
Understanding the state in which the society is in is the first step in
understanding how it impacts its individuals. Throughout the course of the
first two novels, Tris spends time in the heart of each and every one of the
factions headquarters. Each time she goes to a new faction, she learns
something new and important that she wishes to apply to her life. The society has
taught its citizens that they must value and focus on ONE quality in particular
and spend all of their time focusing on it and perfecting it. The citizens of
the society choose to be content with this system of society for many reasons
including that the majority seems to be content with it, and most individuals
do not go against the majority. Also, a lot of the citizens feel that the five
factions are solely the five personality types that exist, and they feel safe
and comfortable and have a sense of belonging in their faction. Continuing
these thoughts, there isn't a lot someone could do by themselves to go against
the society even if they didn't believe in what it stood for. However, one of
the major themes of the story and Tris's discovery through traveling through
all of the factions is that all of these qualities are important for an
individual to have and apply to their life, as well as many others. Part of her
capability to discover this would be her Divergence, or having an aptitude for
more than one faction. However, we see multiple times throughout the novel that
people make decisions solely based on the majority whether it be due to fear,
or naivety, or placing how others see them over their personal beliefs. For
instance, we see this example from when Caleb, Tris's brother, betrays her due
to his lack of suspicion, "I wouldn't judge him too harshly.
Jeanine[leader of Erudite] can be extraordinarily persuasive to those who
aren't naturally suspicious." This simple truth could definitely hold true
in our society today. Going against the majority can be a scary thing, but it
will be unavoidable at some point if you are ever going to get something that
you truly want. Unfortunately, as seen in the novel, society often puts ideas
in our head that often alter our ideas from what we truly want to what society
wants. Society has a huge impact on individuals points of views and minds, and
only a select few people such as Tris have the courage to stand up for what
they believe in.
I realize the blog was pretty lengthy, and kind of a lot to read and I will
try to make them shorter in the future, there was just an unusually large
amount of ground to cover considering I was discussing an entire novel. As my
link this week I would like to include something that I became particularly
interested in over Spring Break, and it has a relationship to the novel and
personality types. it is the personality type quiz( you may have already taken
something like it if you had ECA) and scientific research states there are more
like sixteen personality types rather than the simple five that the society
convinces its members to believe. Feel free to take the quiz and read about
your personality type through these links(If you already know your type you can
read about it on the second link). Explore the websites and have fun with it.
Feel free to comment your personality types or ask any questions you have about
this blog post in general! I know it was really long and I could definitely see
how you could get confused, and I would love to clear anything up for
you.
Thanks for reading,
Kayla
Personality
Quiz
Info about YOUR
personality type(take quiz above first)
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