Tori Ramfos
Mrs. Coe
English 9
28 June 2015
Faction Over Blood
Too much government control can be frightening according to the novel Divergent by Veronica Roth. Government fears Divergents because everything and anything is possible when dealing with one. It can mean living life fearlessly or it can mean living life in complete fear of whether or not the government finds out what faction a person fits into, if any. A utopian society seems like perfection to some people, however a perfect society can also cause damage by eliminating free will. The government in Divergent, prides itself on stealing people's identity to create an identity that is satisfying to them. That is wrong on so many levels. The Dauntless faction is surrounded
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with power and control, psychological control, and government structure which makes it the best faction to take on a dystopian society. A Dauntless member has the power to control themselves physically and mentally. Although this is not ideal for a society, it fits perfect in a dystopian society. This power and control helps them in traumatic situations or when the government is trying to find out personal information. After the government had Tobias under the serum, he became violent towards Tris and was ready to kill her. Tris was obviously frightened at this point but then she remembered something her father used to say. “My father says - used to say - that there is power in self sacrifice ((Roth 476). This is a prime example of how power and control fits into a dystopian genre and an undesirable society to live in. A utopian Ramfos 2 society may seem desirable by some people but when government gains too much power and control it can become frightening.
Furthermore, psychological control is a strong characteristic of a Dauntless person. The ability to psychologically control your own feelings or even someone else’s fits into the dystopian genre. Although the government's goal of having a utopia seemed harmless to some people, Divergent has proven that trying to have ultimate control over a society is not only harmful but deadly. Tris said, “Soon the leaders will notice that whatever signals everyone else is getting, I’m not getting them. What will I do if that happens?” (Roth 423). This is the point where Tris uses her psychological control to calm herself by reminding herself to be still. The government's idea of utopia slowly became a dystopian society as people rebelled and used their own power and control to defeat the …show more content…
government. The government’s structure was one that tries to mold people into certain factions regardless of other areas of expertise they may have had.
In Divergent, the government's goal of a utopia started off by controlling people by fear by having them tested to see what faction they best fit into. People were scared to see where they best fit and even more scared if they didn’t fit into any faction. “No. I shake my head. I should not be afraid of this man. He needs help and I am supposed to help him” ((Roth 25). Tris realizes the way government is breaking people down just because they may not be as strong as others and become factionless. The government structure led to a dystopian
society. The faction Dauntless deals with power and control, psychological control and government structure which makes it the best faction to help fight a dystopian society. Dauntless members are fearless and have other areas of control that help them to anticipate the negativity and problems that occur with a government structure that is setup to fail. All three of these dystopian elements can be Ramfos 3 changed for the better if people are willing to work together. Being a part of the Dauntless faction meant dealing with many different dystopian elements, but it all came down to how these elements were used in order to help build a more successful society. Dauntless was the best for this because of their fearlessness and power and control.
Bad blood is a book that was written James H. Jones who is an associate professor of History. The book narrates on how the government through the department of Public Health service (PHS) authorized and financed a program that did not protect human values and rights. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment which was conducted between 1932 and 1972 where four hundred illiterate and semi-illiterate black sharecroppers in Alabama recently diagnosed with syphilis were sampled for an experiment that was funded by the U.S Health Service to prove that the effect of untreated syphilis are different in blacks as opposed to whites. The blacks in Macon County, Alabama were turned into laboratory animals without their knowledge and the purpose of the experiment
The novel 1984, by George Orwell, made me paranoid. It made me suspicious of our government's power and intentions. I became aware of the potential manipulation which the government could impose upon us. I came to see that the people I believe to be wholly dedicated to the well-being of society, the people I rely so heavily on to provide protection and security have the power to betray us at any given time. I realised that in my naivety I had gravely overlooked the powerful grip government has over society, and what it can do with that power.
Have you ever pictured yourself being divergent? Do you even know what being Divergent is? Picture it like it's a good thing, but there are people trying to kill you just because you are unique and normal. In a Veronica Roth novel Divergent, Beatrice (Tris) battles an internal conflict of trying to find who she really is. Tris ultimately resolves this conflict by facing her fears in the fear landscape; however, this choice also illustrates her true character as both fearful and fearless. Tris’s decision to fight the war also reveals the universal theme that when people are trying to find themselves, the best way to know who you are is to first know who you love or who you care about.
A system that manipulates its people into thinking they have freedom creates a stronger government.
The novel “Divergent” by the author Veronica Roth is a 1st person point of view, she tells
...o most it is an unattainable goal of perfection. People are no longer looking to themselves for identity; they are abiding by media’s demands and adopting a forced identity. In order for a dystopia to thrive there has to be a mechanical structure where a single outer appearance has the most valuein society. This superficiality ultimately leads to a world of misery, unhappiness and destruction. While reading dystopian literature and watching dystopian Tv shows and movies it is easy to see the depravity of human kind that comes from central control of ideas such as appearance and beauty. In our society media’s grip on audience and control of all the images available makes it possible to control the way people feel about their appearance and individuality.
The definition of a government is “a governing body of a nation state, and community”(Merriam-Webster). The Dystopian that we live in today is probably the same as in the book 1984 and the movie Divergent. However, there many other things that are different. One of those things is that there are no rebelling against. Also there is no different parties within the government. Most importantly, our government doesn’t control what the people do, and they don’t force people to do anything. People today can do and say what they want without the government knowing, or without the government looking over your shoulder. After reading the book 1984 and watching the the movie Divergent, there are a lot of themes that both the book and the movie have
In 1984, George Orwell explores the many facets of a negative utopia. Orwell seems to focus on the measures that the government takes to maintain a public of plebeians who have no personality or identity and believe that they are not unique individuals, but instead are part of a greater senseless mob of people who constantly work for a hostile and oppressive government which is involved in incessant wars. These people are taught to love. They then learn to fear their government because they believe all of the propaganda that is constantly instilled into their minds. They willing follow their government without contest for the duration of their meaningless lives. The government controls all forms of the media (thus denying the people the basic right of free speech) and use it to personify the government (known as “big brother”) .The government therefore seems omnipotent, or all knowing and always correct. Forecasts are changed from one week to the next always proving the government was correct. As was mentioned before, many of the rights that present day Westerners take for gran...
“ One Choice can transform you”- Then how can someone be certain it is right?
As we allow our Government to take over society, we will continue to live with fear and constant terror. Wars will continue to destroy lives and tear contries apart. A government will only have power if we allow them to control society. It all depends on who is apart of this Counil and how much power they can have over us. If we allow the Government to have to muich power it will lead to a tolitarian society such as Oceana. If we do not work together to obtain true peace and love, fear will control us and the human race will seize to exist.
Our fascination with utopias stems from our attraction to and pursuit of progress within our own society. We study utopias with the hope that our society will someday evolve into one. But what often goes unnoticed is that if our society improves enough to become utopian, it won't be able to improve any longer. Hence, it will be rigid and unchanging, the complete opposite of what it was as it evolved to its elevated state. This is an awful truth for us because we place value and virtue in the ideas of desire and progress. Our reason tells us: once in an ideal land, desire cannot simply cease to be, because desire is part of our human nature. And our reason is right. An ideal society should accentuate our human nature, not suppress it. As we desire a perfect society we know that a perfect could not exist without our desire. And as long as we desire, we hope for progress. The idea that an utopia wouldn't allow such progress to occur is enough to make us stop believing in utop...
it does not keep the country free. it does not settle the west. it does not educate”(276). In pink floyd's video they say “we don't need no thought control”. This is saying that Pink Floyd and Thoreau agree that the government is trying to control society and make them do things. The government is powerful and they try to control society and they have to obey the rules that they provide for people and if they don't they are punished for it even if such laws are unfair people have to go along with them people have to obey them or suffer the consequences. Thoreau also says that the government is like a machine. The machine will soon get old and rusty therefore it will have to be replace and thoreau thinks the government is the same way it will soon need to be replaced with something else an alternate
Divergent is set in a futuristic Chicago were everyone is separated into 5 sections of Chicago. Throughout the story the characters take trips to the Ferris Wheel of Navy Prier, the Hancock building, the Willis (formally Sears) Tower, and Millennium Park.
Revolutions and civil wars have taken place and totalitarianism has become a fact that can hardly be ignored. Therefore, the modern age has become a time in which more anti-utopias have been envisioned than ever before. A lot of authors have expressed their views on utopia in their novels. Some have done it by creating their own perfect world, while others have chosen a different path. They have been selected to voice their opinions in anti-utopian novels, or dystopia.
Governments should be afraid of their people.”3( Quoted by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta) .In contrasts to the definition of authoritarianism, power is no longer in the hands of one ruler; but it now rests in the hands of the citizens of the state. According to Robert Dahl; “democratic theory is concerned with processes by which ordinary citizens exert a relatively high degree of control over leaders;”4 ( Quoted by Robert A. Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory, expanded edition). Dahl expressed that citizens are a definite factor for this political system to further define the system of democracy in a state. In one of Dahl’s work; “On Democracy”, he made a criteria on how Democracy works. In this criterion he expressed that this system does not give you what you want but gives you the chance to fight for what you want. The citizens are highly active in this system, because they get to address the needs of the community as a whole and not as individuals, and if it represents the majority, then the leader will grant this request for the citizens. The beauty of this system is that it represents all types of non-violent movements without absolute freedom. It even highlights the term “Public Servants” to the state. It bonds the representatives and constituents. When it comes to weighing in the cons, I believe that the only downfall for this system is that, because it is somewhat transparent, citizens can figure out the leader’s next move and they can easily take advantage of this. With that being said, people might think they have absolute freedom, and instead of asking for what they need, they might just start asking for what they