Divergent: An Illegal Occurrence?

Hello Fanaticals! Welcome to our next fandom: Divergent. I've really gotten into the dystopian realities over the years, and after a week of Hunger Games, Divergent seemed like an awesome spot to head towards. Today, though, I want to pick apart what it means to be Divergent.

Neurodivergence

Personally, I am of the opinion that being Divergent is just another way of saying that even in the dystopian not-so-distant future, they still acknowledge that people are neurodivergent.

The reason for this is because someone who is neurodivergent means that your brain works differently than others. Now while, yes, everyone's brains work differently, there is still a set of "norms" for how the brain works and functions. When you are "Divergent" you can't pass the test that they give you to see which Faction you have a stronger pulling to.

When you consider that these days, we use special testing to discover if someone falls along the neurodivergence line, it's not a surprise that it would come down to a single test that would test someone's capabilities and be a way for the government to discover someone who is Divergent.

History of Divergent Chicago

For those who don't know, or have not done more research into it, the Chicago of Divergent was cut off from the world due to an experimental attempt at creating a utopian society. The goal was to cure human flaws, dividing the city into factions based on certain traits and virtues; almost like Hogwarts with a fifth house and in a city instead of school.

Chicago was intentionally cut off so as to make sure that no one from the outside controlled or contaminated the experiment, leaving the people undisturbed. Those who were come to be known as "Divergent" were the ones that would be studied in order to help figure out how to "fix" human nature so that this utopian city could spread and the entire world could live in this way.

From what we know, there are seven generations between Beatrice, aka Tris, and her ancestor from her father's side, Edith Prior, aka Amanda Ritter. It is said that she was the first of the "Prior" name. As we also know, due to her video, that she was a part of the initial beginnings of the experiment, that means there is maybe about 175-180 years (give or take) between them.

Divergence is Illegal

Considering the amount of time between Edith and Tris, things can change and be warped drastically. Unfortunately, as the years went on, it seems as though the experiment imploded on itself, leading to people believing that being Divergent is illegal. Originally, being Divergent was supposed to be seen as a good thing, but by the time that Beatrice goes in for her test, that is absolutely not the case.

When Tori sees Beatrice's test results, she quickly ushers her out and fakes the results for her. We later discover that due to her brother, George, she recognized that Beatrice was Divergent. However, instead of turning her over as it seems was the protocol back at the beginning of the experiment, she quietly shuffles her away. Later, she explains to Tris that George was Divergent who was eventually killed; Tori assumes that it was due to his status as a Divergent.

This then leads us to believe that as time went on, the reasoning for why they were searching for Divergents became lost in time, and now it just seemed as though they were a black spot in this utopian city. This could be due to several reasons; one is that something happened on the outside of Chicago's walls and the world has succumbed to something major or just lost contact in general, and the other is that someone INSIDE the experiment believed that it was easier to just kill off the Divergent so that the utopia remained just that.

It also makes you wonder exactly how many Divergents seem to be amongst the people as George, Tris, and Tobias (aka Four) were known, as well as the one member of Dauntless who was discovered while the "robotic" Dauntless members were gearing up. However, Tobias and Tris seem to know better than to let their Divergent status known and know to just go with the flow.

It is also that fact that is surprising and begs the question of when it began to happen that the Divergents became "illegal" and sought after to be killed instead of sent outside the fence.

Divergent Traits

The worst part in this attempt at an experiment is the fact that the scientists and other government officials believed that people can only have one personality trait, so that is the faction you belong to: Selfless (Abnegation), Intelligent (Erudite), Brave (Dauntless), Peaceful (Amity) or Honest (Candor). While the test that is administrated DOES account for having traits of more than one faction, it is only open for two factions before you are considered "inconclusive" which leads to being Divergent.

The system became too rigid and led to diversion, conflict, and oppression despite the fact that you don't see much of it in the people themselves, but you DO see it in a handful of people as well as government officials; Eric, Jeanie, and Max are three of them as Max and Eric oversaw everyone as their transmitters told them to grab their weapons to go "take care of" Abnegation members while Jeanie was in charge of Erudite who partnered with them to overthrown Abnegation.

What do you believe is the reason that seemingly being Divergent went from being a good thing to almost feeling illegal? Come share your thoughts with us! Join us tomorrow as we take a closer look at some theories regarding the Factions themselves. Until then, keep on theorizing, Fanaticals!