Jake’s Letter Essay #4: Divergent

I have just read 220 Pages (½) of the book, Divergent by Veronica Roth.This Dystopian literature book was published on April 25, 2011 and I choose to read it because I saw the movie and I really wanted to compare the book to the movie. Veronica Roth is a 27 year old, american novelists who has written 10 books over her career, the most popular being the Divergent series.

Divergent

Beatrice Prior lives in a “Perfect world” that is divided into 5 separate factions, each know for their own skill, Abnegation has selflessness, Erudite are the most intelligent, Dauntless are the fearless and brave, Amity are the peaceful, Candor the honest ones, and The Factionless are the people that are not in any part of the social classes or factions. Beatrice is Abnegation but the choosing ceremony is right around the corner. The choosing ceremony happens when you turn 16 and become an adult. At the ceremony you get to choose the faction you want to spend the rest of your life in. As a preparation everyone must go through an aptitude test which tells you what faction you should go to. When Beatrice takes the aptitude test her results are inconclusive, otherwise know as Divergent. Being Divergent is very dangerous and Beatrice cannot tell anyone, not even her parents. When is comes to the choosing ceremony and the time for Beatrice to pick she is still unsure about what faction to pick. Should she leave Abnegation for another faction and forget about her family, or should she stay with her parents and abnegation?

 

I liked how the author made the book very action packed and full of adventure. Also, I really liked how she described the action and adventure that the Dauntless go through, like jumping off of train cars onto building tops and other crazy adventures. I was surprised how when they are just 16 years old they have to make a decision that could change their lives, leave their families for hope of a better life in a new faction or stay with your family and your original faction. This book reminded me of the book, The Hunger Games. Just like The Hunger Games, Divergent is Dystopian literature. Both of these books have people divided up into different sections to separate their different purposes in the community.

 

In this scene, Beatrice is walking home from the aptitude test and is talking about the kind of neighborhood she lives in. “I walk in the middle of the road. The busses tend to hug the curb, so it’s safer here. Sometimes, on the streets near my house, I can see places where the yellow lines used to be. We have no use for them now that there are so few cars. We don’t need stoplights, either, but in some places they dangle precariously over the road like they might crash down at any minute.

Renovation moves slowly through the city, which is a patchwork of new, clean buildings and old crumbling ones. Most of the new buildings are next to the marsh, which used to be a lake a long time ago. The Abnegation volunteer agency my mother works for is responsible for most of those restorations.”(P. 24)

I quoted this passage because it shows how “perfect” this world really is with crumbling buildings and outdated roads and the factionless wondering them night and day. This also brought up the question in my head about why do all dystopian literature books always have a bad ending?

 

If I had to rate the book I would give it a 8 out of 10. This book has really hooked me and I can’t wait to finish this book and move onto the next book in the series, insurgent.

 

From,

  Jake

 

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4 thoughts on “Jake’s Letter Essay #4: Divergent

  1. Jake, I have seen some people read this and I know they made it into a movie I also like how you describe the book In your summary overall great letter essay

  2. Jake, this really persuaded me into reading this book, I really liked the effort that you put into this. It was very descriptive and thanks for the quoted passage
    Sincerely,
    Caden S

  3. Jake,
    I really like how well put together your letter essay is. You did a great job and I should defiantly find time to read it. Thanks for all the description you had in your piece great job. Keep up the good work!,
    Alex

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