Book Review: Divergent

Divergent by Veronica Roth (New York: Katherine Tegen/Harper Collins, 2011. 487 pp)

Veronica Roth (b. 1988) is from a Chicago suburb. She studied creative writing at Northwestern University, where she wrote her first book, Divergent. Film rights to the novel have been sold as of April 2012.

Vice and Virtue

So often we can unknowingly characterize ourselves based on our greatest vice. Perhaps we are too greedy, too slothful, too prideful, or even too malicious. 

However, we rarely think about what our greatest virtue is, and we even more rarely gravitate toward characterizing ourselves based on it. In a work of speculative fiction, Divergent by Veronica Roth imagines a world where society is broken up into factions based on their virtue of choice.

In a future Chicago, we meet a sixteen year old Beatrice, or “Tris”. Beatrice has never felt at home in the faction she was born into—Abnegation. There are five different factions in the city: Erudite, Amity, Candor, Dauntless, and Abnegation. These factions formed decades ago in the wake of a warring world. Those who believed the world failed because of greed formed the faction of Abnegation, sworn to remain selfless and serve others. Those who felt aggression was the cause formed Amity, always seeking peace. Those who felt cowardice was the cause formed Dauntless, the faction of the strong and courageous. Those who believed the world’s failings were because of ignorance formed the Erudite, and consistently sought knowledge. Those who felt human duplicity was the cause formed Candor, seeking truth above all else. 

“‘Decades ago our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather, they determined that it was the fault of human personality—of humankind’s inclination towards evil, in whatever from that is. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world’s disarray’” (42).

Aptitude

At sixteen, much like everyone else her age, Beatrice takes a mandatory aptitude test, where she goes through a set of scenarios to show her strongest virtues. After the aptitude test, all the teenagers choose which faction they will devote themselves to for the rest of their lives, sometimes forsaking friends and family to pursue their chosen virtue. Beatrice carries immense fear regarding her test; She doesn’t want to leave her current faction, even though, despite her upbringing, she doesn’t naturally act selfless. At the end of her aptitude test, she finds out some troubling news.

“‘[Y]ou display equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. People who get this kind of result are...’ She looks over her shoulder like she expects someone to appear behind her. “...are called...Divergent” (22).

The divergent, for an unexplained reason, are both incredibly rare and frowned upon. The test administrator, in an act of mercy, buries the results. Beatrice is then forced to choose between the three. If she chooses a faction other than Abnegation, she will be transported to the new faction’s colony, and will be unable to see her family ever again.

Beatrice, instead of siding with her birth faction, decides she would be better suited as Dauntless. Beatrice immediately begins initiation into the Dauntless faction, beginning with several acts of “bravery”, jumping off a moving train and a roof seven stories high.

Multiple Virtues

Chicago Metropolitan Area

Soon after arriving at the Dauntless colony, Beatrice, much to her chagrin, learns that there are only ten spots open for new initiates. She is forced to go through three stages of competition. If Beatrice doesn’t score high enough in competitions against new initiates, she becomes factionless, forced to wander the world with no home or community. Luckily, she scores highly during each stage of initiation.

Throughout the novel, Beatrice starts noticing the tensions rise between the factions. Erudite seems to target Abnegation, and cracks begin to arise in society, illustrating the inconceivability of the world Veronica Roth has created. Virtue focuses on the building of character. To focus on one virtue at the expense of all others creates an unbalanced character.

No human with their myriad of emotions could ever fully fling themselves into one single virtue, as we all display more than one virtue from time to time.  I have a hard time believing humanity could form a virtue-based society , even if the civilization was on the brink of an apocalypse. Conversely, that might be what Roth herself is saying. Because Beatrice is divergent, it shows that humans are perhaps only truly whole when multiple virtues are embraced.

The world that Roth has created isn’t without cracks or flaws. However, now that she has developed a back story to her characters and their virtuous society, there is room to grow the story into something special. Though I found flaws within the story, I was nevertheless caught up in great amounts of suspense. 

Divergent is a memorable journey, showing that coming of age sometimes means leaving your family and past behind and that virtues can be sometimes too highly praised. I, for one, have already picked up Roth’s next novel in the series, Insurgent, and will be reading it shortly.

Verdict: 3 out of 5
What do you think? Did you enjoy the novel? Does dividing the world based on virtue make sense? Share your thoughts below.
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Posted by: Andrew Jacobson

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Book Review: Real Marriage

Real Marriage: The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together by Mark and Grace Driscoll (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2012. 236 pp)

Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. He was named one of the "25 Most Influential Pastors of the Past 25 Years" by Preaching Magazine. He received a B.A. in Speech Communication from Washington State University, and holds an M.A. in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of fifteen books. Grace Driscoll is Mark’s loving wife, and a fellow founder of Mars Hill Church.

My Indie Rock Church

Photo by Mars Hill Church

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve been going to Mars Hill Church in Seattle since it was a burgeoning church of seven hundred people (it now holds services for 10,000+ people). I began going in 2003, when Pastor Mark still swore frequently, indie rock was a new fad, and both mohawks and tattoos littered the halls of Mars Hill Church. Being yelled at was fun—well, not so much fun, but it was needed. Pastor Mark and the worship pastor at that time baptized me and my roommate at the time, and I’ve had the pleasure of serving alongside him. Since my first time stepping in the doors of Mars Hill, I’ve become a deacon in the church, trained leaders, led a worship band, and baptized people—something I never thought would happen. I’ve seen tons of lives changed in my nearly nine years there. So obviously, my review of Mark and Grace Driscoll’s new book, Real Marriage, will carry a certain level of bias.

The Last Day Matters 

Photo by Joy Candido

Driscoll’s newest book, Real Marriage is something that I think will change lives. Marriage is on a severe decline in the United States and across the world, either due to economic decline and the fear of monetary consequences, or due to a dramatic culture shift. Nonetheless, the Driscolls propose that it’s not the first day of marriage with all its pomp and circumstance that matters the most, it’s the last day that carries significance.

“To finish well on the last day of your marriage, it is not enough to simply have passion and principles. You also need a plan. Marriages start with passion and over the years accrue principles, but apart from a plan, the passion and principles are powerless. You must choose whether you will spend your time making plans or excuses” (204).

The Driscolls also outline, through a series of helpful questions, ways to reverse engineer your marriage so that it is successful. They break up the questions into annual, quarterly, weekly, and daily plans. The questions include topics on health, friends, learning, daily habits, housing, the bedroom, and more.

Candor 

What I’ve also enjoyed about Mark Driscoll throughout the years is his frank sense of candor. He shows his honesty in discussing two topics: marriage in general, and sex in particular.

Mark and Grace address men and women specifically regarding marriage in their own respective chapters. Grace discusses how to respect one’s husband, and Mark how to love one’s wife well. Mark says that the guy’s biggest obstacle in a marriage is a tendency towards prolonged adolescence.

“We are left with indefinite adolescence and a Peter Pan Syndrome epidemic where some men want to remain boys forever. If we do make the transition to manhood, many husbands and fathers revert back to adolescence with something called a midlife crisis. Even some old men revert back to adolescence, trading in their wives for the youngest girlfriends they can” (43).

Mark then suggests that it is appropriate for men to be tough and tender. Men need to be tough when defending their wives, daughters, and providing financially. But, they also need to be tender when caring for their wives and daughters. Rarely do men find this balance of tough and tender, or even worse, they don’t care to. As a result, many married men remain adolescent young adults.

Sex & the Celebrity Complex 

Photo by Bigger Picture Images

The second part of the book is about sex, which is a part of the Bible, believe it or not. The Old Testament book The Song of Solomon is actually dedicated to this physical act. But, in marriage, the Driscolls outline three ways that we can look at sex: as god, as gross, or as a gift. They then explore the best ways to view sex, and how to overcome some common obstacles in a marriage regarding sex, including sexual frequency, the problem of porn, and being selfish lovers. Perhaps the best sentiment they provide is,

“Sex is a part of your life, but it is not your life. If you allow sex to become your life, you will compare your spouse’s appearance and performance to other people in general, and sinful people in particular, thereby becoming dissatisfied. This opens the door to temptation” (152).

I think the celebrity complex is the problem of our culture. Popular culture has promulgated the idea that if you’re dissatisfied with your marriage, or if it’s too much work, you need to move on. Because we have become an over-sexualized, me-based culture, if our needs aren’t met, it’s simply not good enough. Driscoll and his wife address these issues head-on in an effort to save marriages all across the country.

It must be noted, however, that there is a certain controversy around Driscoll. He comes at marriage from a reformed Christian perspective, so people who aren’t Christian or are part of mainline denominations might not enjoy it as much as evangelical Christians. But, at the same time, I think that Real Marriage also speaks to people that might disagree with the Driscoll quotes that they’ve heard. Any marriage, healthy or not, could benefit from this book, if it’s approached with an open mind.

Verdict: 4 out of 5
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Posted By: Andrew Jacobson

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