Essay

Rowan Harris

Rebeske

English 4 AP

7 May 2014

Choices

            In the modern Utopian novel Divergent by Veronica Roth, a sixteen year old girl with the name of Beatrice Priors has to make some pretty hard choices in life. Beatrice lives in a society which is divided into five factions, each dedicated to social gifts of people —Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must choose the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family in Abnegation and being what she wants to; Dauntless, she can't have both. The teenagers are tested before it is time to make their decision to see which faction their personality accurately fits into. Beatrice’s results were complicated; she was not any of the factions. She was Divergent, a form of faction that can result in death by the government. The next day, Beatrice ends up choosing Dauntless; which surprises everyone including herself. During the complicated and competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself "Tris" and tries to figure out who she really is. She meets many new friends, and even a boy named Four in joining Dauntless. As she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also finds that her secret might help her save those she loves or help destroy her, all through her choices.

            Tris’s life can reflect to the life of an American teenage girl. She is different from everyone and is trying to figure out her purpose in life. All teenagers struggle with one thing whether they know it or not: decision making. High school is full of daily battles and choices you have to make. Tris’s first major decision is choosing to leave her family in Abnegation to become Dauntless. She will now no longer live with her family or be able to see them. This choice can compare to the choice of high school students choosing where they want to go to college after they graduate. Some parents do not want their children to leave them, like Tris’s parents. Students who choose to attend college far away from home will no longer see their families. They will be a part of something totally new, just like how Tris joins Dauntless.

             Tris makes many more decisions that affect her future in the novel. When the leader of Erudite, Jeanine Matthews, tries to take over all factions she starts by going after Abnegation. She creates a formula that puts Dauntless fighters under her power and mind control. Jeanine plans to use the Dauntless warriors to end the entire Abnegation faction. This puts Tris’s family in great danger. Tris and her star-crossed lover, Four, attempt to put a stop to Jeanine’s Abnegation-annihilation by destroying Jeanine’s software. Tris and Four manage to escape to look for the remaining Abnegation members. Tris finds her mom and she helps her gather weapons for an ultimate escape. Tris’s mother is shot protecting her daughter and Tris has the option of trying to save her or leaving her. If she tries to save her she could get shot too and they would both die, but if she leaves her to die she lives the rest of her life without her mother. Tris chooses to leave her mother, escaping with the gun she used to protect her daughter. She decided that it would be better for one of them to move on then neither of them to. Her mother’s death is painful for her, but it gives Tris even more to fight for.

           Your happiness and the path of your life can be based on the choices you make. Tris’s decisions have resulted in an ultimate escape from her dystopian society with the ones she loves. If you make the right decisions and follow your heart, your choices can lead you to your own happiness.