4/5
Oh my goodness, I could not put this book down. I read it in less than twenty-four hours and it's a thick book. (Actually, I have to say it's the perfect size. Nice and plump and yet not so thick that it would smash your face in if you dropped it while holding it over your head. Of course, it might give you a bruise but as long as the danger is not life threatening, allowances must be made for plump books. Besides, it would technically be our fault dropping books on our heads. Obviously I don't trust myself when it comes to anvil like books in close proximity to my head.)
Divergent is a dystopian novel (I've read a couple of these the past couple weeks and Divergent has been my favorite so far. That is, if we're not counting Fahrenheit 451. It's an interesting genre.) In this book society has been split into five different factions, each dedicated to upholding one particular virtue: Selflessness, Intelligence, Courage, Peace, or Honesty. On their sixtieth birthday the children of this society must choose which fraction (and virtue) they wish to dedicate their lives to. They may either choose to stay with their parents in the faction they've grown up in, or choose a different faction and separate themselves entirely from their previous lives. A person who is "divergent" shows equal strength in more than one virtue (basically a normal human being, right?) and thus considered dangerous.
What I found fascinating about this book was the idea of dedicating your life to one virtue. It's really thought provoking. Right at the beginning I found myself wondering alongside Tris which faction I would choose if given the choice. I started comparing the value of each virtue; comparing the lifestyles. Which really proves the point doesn't it? The people of this story weren't being forced into submission by an all powerful government (something you see in dystopian novels) they were choosing this life for themselves. (Of course, if they hadn't chosen something bad would most likely have happened, but that aside, THEY WERE CHOOSING) The problem is that all virtues are tied together; out of selflessness comes courage etc. and when we eliminate the other virtues we have an incomplete virtue. The whole point is off. Instead of valuing intelligence as something to be used for the benefit of others, it is used to gain power and riches. Besides which human beings are by nature complicated, their decisions and the conclusions they come to are created by a massive amount of different factors. When we look at a people focused on one thing and one thing only, we are looking at a very disturbing image.
It's a good example at why extremism is so bad. There needs to be some middle ground, a place where people from both sides can come to a compromise. I was doing some research recently for an essay I had to write on political gridlock, and this reminds me of that. Even if something might be good to begin with, when it is blown out of proportion and taken to extremes it loses the original object.
In the end, I started thinking about how beautiful humanity is. God gave us the ability to feel more than one emotion at a time, to think more than one thought. We were given free will and intellect, the ability to be compassionate as well as honest with one another, courageous as well as selfless. People are complicated, and that's what makes them so beautiful. We have the ability to go above and beyond any calculated expectation.
I probably would have given this book 5/5 except for the amount of violence. Too much. There were a couple bits that would make me hesitate to recommend it to everyone. Also. Can I just take a moment to say how much I dislike first person present tense? Ugh. Why is this writing style so popular right now? Present tense is pretty and poetic when used in small doses. VERY small doses. Please, dear young adult authors, no more first person present tense. I'm begging you. It's not poetic. It's robotic. Thank you.
