Sunday, February 1, 2015

Divergent- Protagonist and Antagonist

I am reading a book called "Divergent" by Veronica Roth. This book has 489 pages.

The book depicts a society divided by factions.  Each of the five factions value one virtue and carry different duties in the development of the society. "Erudite" is in charge of education and research, they provide the society with lawyers and doctors. "Abnegation" is the governing faction, they vote on what changes should be done in the city.  "Dauntless" is in charge of the security of the city, they provide the weapons and guard the wall surrounding the city. "Amity" grows the city's crops, they provide the food for the city and "Candor" is in charge of law and justice. 

The protagonist in the novel is Beatrice Prior. She is a 16 year old girl born in Abnegation. She has blue eyes and blond hair, in the book she described herself as too small for her age. She is a member of the governing faction that rules the society. As an Abnegation born, she is expected to be selfless and always perform little acts of selflessness towards the other citizens, for example, always giving up seats for other people on the bus. However, she feels she cannot fit the role in the society that she was assigned. She struggles with living up to the expectations of Abnegation standards and sometimes feels like she doesn't belong there. She feels that she, as well as other members of the factions, must to be free and that they must to be able to make their own choices and decisions.    

At the age of 16, all students are to take an "Aptitude Test" which will determine which faction the students are most suited for.  Beatrice Prior received the score of three factions, Abnegation, Dauntless and Erudite.  This score is known as "Divergent".  Standing for three factions, Beatrice can understand the world better.

The antagonists are the Erudite. It is a faction consisting of intellectuals and scholars. They are led by their leader, Jeanine Matthews. The Erudite feel that they should govern the society and not the Abnegation.  They want to bring about the change and have devised a plan and steps how to achieve it. The Erudite have been acting against the Abnegation for a while, trying to turn the whole city against them, in the hope of becoming the governing faction themselves. Jeanine Mathews wrote several reports accusing the Abnegation of treating the members of other factions in a cruel way. Andrew Prior, Beatrice's father, who is a council member in Abnegation, was one of the accused. Jeanine Mathews has grey eyes and wears spectacles. 

To get to power, they need the military and police with their weapons. They make a deal with the leaders of the Dauntless, who provide the weapons for the attack.  However, the Erudite used inappropriate means and formed a "Simulation Serum" to brainwash the rest of Dauntless, making them turn against Abnegation and kill hundreds of them.

The conflicts in this book are man vs. man and man vs. society. 

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