Dystopian Society In A Divergent

An imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one perfectly describes a dystopia. Divergent takes place in a dystopian society during the future in Chicago. The society, broken down into 5 groups, with each group holding one value over others. Teenagers are put into a three step process to determine which faction they will be.

The book is given its name becauses it is about a girl, Beatrice Prior, who takes the aptitude test ( the test determining which faction you are) and finds out she belongs to more than one, meaning she’s divergent. Divergent are known to be dangerous to society. In a dystopian society, those who do not conform to what they wish, are eliminated.

The whole society is managed in every aspect of life. The government controls everything leaving little for people to actually think and do for themselves. This amount of power is never good for any type of supremacy because once one side of the relationship between government and society gains too much power; it is nearly impossible for the opposite side to gain any back. For example, Tris mentions that in her faction history book she was taught through school “faction before blood” and that “more than family our factions are where we belong” (43. Roth). This shows how powerful the government in Divergent was considering it made people believe that the authorities and their rules were more valuable than their own families. This government was also paranoid about losing their power and they looked out for those who can defy their system. Being classified as Divergent automatically puts a target on their back that the government is aiming for because they’re one of the special few who cannot be controlled. Divergents are able to break the barrier the authorities have put on their society by being able to control their simulations, meaning they can’t be brainwashed. The government has surveillances on the entire population, always keeping an eye out for suspicious activity, and especially Divergents.

Government surveillance is a common theme throughout the novel Divergent. Four, Tris’s love interest, warns Tris about the government’s surveillance, and how they are suspicious, cautioning to her “They are watching you. You in particular” (310. Roth). Another example of this government surveillance is how the initiates that are successful in their trials have a tracking device inserted,