Divergent: Factions of Fate

Welcome back, Fanaticals! Today we are going to take look into the Factions. While really we only have in depth knowledge of Abnegation and Dauntless as those are the main two in the series as we follow Tris, we can piece together enough about the other three from her interactions with the other non-Dauntless born.

The thing about Divergent's Factions of Fate, as I call them, is that they want to focus on a single solid trait and it's not always in the way that the government or the outside scientists expect. Let's take a look!

Dauntless

Tris states that Dauntless is where they primarily get their cops from, but it is also pointed out that the children of Dauntless seem to have the habit of being troublemakers despite being from the "brave" Faction. It seems like "brave" seems to translate into "reckless" a lot. (Hmmm... Doesn't THAT sound familiar, Potterheads?)

For a perfect example, we see and read a lot about how the Dauntless will jump onto and off of the moving trains. Even Beatrice thinks it's a bit reckless since they could actually get killed if they don't get their timing right. Grant it, Dauntless BORN are probably taught how to do it from a young age by the teens and (young) adults but if you choose Dauntless at the Ceremony, it is your first test as to whether you really belong there or not; and that can seem both dangerous and reckless honestly.

The fact that in a 20 year period, Beatrice and Tobias are the only transfers from Abnegation say a lot as well; but we will cover the reasoning for that in a minute.

Dauntless being made up of only younger adults has its interesting fact as well; that when you reach a certain age, you "retire" and either jump into the chasm which is a sign of bravery (and probably most respected by the rest of the Faction) or you become Factionless which we learn is not a good thing, ever. If you fail training, you become Factionless, though it almost seems like there could be a back and forth between many members over Will's death; he was near the bottom during initiation training, but he also jumped in the chasm instead of becoming Factionless. So the question in his case is was his death considered cowardice or honourable?

It also seems as though they generally have quite a few transfers as well, but is that due to bravery, interest, or just plain stupidity?

Abnegation

The selfless Faction, who gained the "nickname" (read slur) of "stiffs" due to their secondary trait of lack of vanity, seems like an interesting place to go for a transfer. It's more likely that it is the smallest Faction due to probably having teens transfer out more often then in, and it would seem like more of those that choose at the Ceremony would be Abnegation born.

As for the mention of Tris and Four's transfers, it is interesting as those who choose seem more likely to choose one of the other three factions; only those that go from Abnegation to Dauntless are those who have something they wish to run from or prove to themselves. Remember, Tris' mother chose Abnegation but came from Dauntless which is an interesting choice. One that was likely due to having met Tris' father.

While Abnegation gained the title of "stiff" from everyone else, it's actually very admirable that anyone would go a life of only seeing themselves once a year, especially if they chose to come from another faction where it seems as though looking in a mirror is literally an everyday thing. Not a surprise as we all look in th3e mirror multiple times a day ourselves.

I equate Abnegation to being in my high school's "Service with a Smile" group all day, everyday; Abnegation serves their community, something we know to be true as it is mentioned that they are the only Faction to willingly interact with the Factionless as they go out into the streets and give them meals. If we stick to one worded traits, selfless would definitely be the best one but honestly I don't find it that accurate. Community Servants would honestly be better.

However, my theory about the Abnegation Initiation, as that is something we don't know, would probably be having to fulfill so many hours of community service, and something probably to do with a ceremonial burning of your old clothes like they do in Dauntless; although in Dauntless it is more to say goodbye to your old Faction, in Abnegation it is probably more along the lines of getting rid of the vanity that comes with the other Factions. Abnegation's Initiation process that we DO find out about does include sitting on a bench side-by-side while an older member reads them the Manifesto and very rarely has anyone who fails and becomes Factionless.

Candor

Known for being honest, sometimes they seem to take their honesty a bit too far. Peter is an excellent example of this, as he is very cruel and ill-tempered towards Tris and the other Chosen Initiates, claiming that he's just honest as he's from Candor. Honestly, this is a bit of evidence that he actually didn't belong in Dauntless as he seemed to want to hold onto where he came from and not where he CHOSE; something that both Four AND Eric have to remind him of.

Peter is not the only one, as his lackeys Molly and Drew both follow his lead. The one trait that shows that Peter didn't belong in Candor is his ability to lie, something heavily frowned upon in Candor.

Candor sees everything in black and white, there is no grey area to them. Part of the reason that Candor had a hand in this "experiment" completely failing and going from Utopia to Dystopia is because while in a perfectly Utopian world, everything truly CAN be black and white; but this is also why Utopias don't exist, because the world is also full of grey. While they originally blamed duplicity for human failure, they also took away the reasoning for duplicity where it would do good rather than harm.

The thought process for what could potentially be behind the Choosing Initiation of Candor is tricky. As they think in black and white, and they obviously have the technology to do it, I could honestly see a Lie Detector being a part of it considering that they believe in the truth and only the truth. While one thing is known about Candor is their "truth serum", it is probably used during Initiation so that you can get the worst of your secrets out, thinking that if everyone knows the worst of you then you have no reason to lie.

If anything, the one Faction I could see having "traitors" come to Candor would be Abnegation over anyone else. As they are selfless and reject vanity, they are probably used to being honest as well.

Erudite

Erudite is where those who would probably be sorted Ravenclaw would go, as they love knowledge and are filled with scholars. Erudite produces primarily doctors, teachers, and scientists; it is most likely that those who chose a different Faction did so because they felt that they could not live up to the expectations of either working in one of those areas, or they felt they were not as intelligent as others.

Tris' brother, Caleb, chose to leave Abnegation and go to Erudite because he had a love for learning very early on in his life. The one flaw of being in this Faction is that you also have a high level of vanity in you due to being more intelligent than the other Factions; one reason why I am sure very few from Abnegation transfer in, and probably just as few will transfer there. However, it would be unsurprising to realize just how many people actually choose to transfer out, more often than not into Dauntless.

As it is, all of their leadership is chosen based on their IQ Level; something of which Jeanine has the highest of, but you can see her vanity in her sole interaction with Tris after she transfers to Dauntless.

Erudites wear blue because it is considered the calmest colour and supposedly helps stimulate the brain. I painted my childhood room blue when I was twelve, and can actually agree with this belief as I was always calmest when I was in my room. However, as another example of their vanity, they will sometimes wear glasses as they believe it will make them appear to be smarter.

I theorize that the Erudite Initiation probably has a lot of actual testing involved; not physical but mental, and not in the way that Dauntless does. It honestly would not surprise me if they did some form of IQ Testing, and if you are under a certain score they will let you go to become Factionless. Even Therese, who was a prior Erudite that became Factionless, was given the option to either clean research labs or become Factionless as she was "not smart enough" for them. Although, Caleb DOES reveal that each Initiate selects a specific subject they wish to become an expert in.

As it stands, we know of at least six characters that went from Erudite to Dauntless, two to Abnegation, and two who became Factionless; there's no telling how many others went to Amity or Candor because they didn't feel smart enough to live with other Erudites. While believing that the lack of knowledge might have been human flaw, not everyone can be that smart and so it is not the flaw that humanity needed to fix. This could be something that lead to Erudite's part of being against Abnegation as they believed that they held secrets, misinterpreting their selflessness, something else to prove Erudite's vanity flaw.

Amity

These seem to be the friendliest of everyone, I would definitely call them Hufflepuffs based on the few interactions we see with them; Tris sees her old childhood "friend" Robert while she is on Patrol Duty with Dauntless, and he seems very happy to be in Amity.

They are the farmers, and seem to be very loose in certain regards such as how they dress but more strict in Peace-Keeping when it comes to the other four Factions.

The Faction has probably the least amount of information anywhere, despite having a heavy focus on them in Insurgent. The only real thing known is that their Initiation process includes fruit-picking and song-singing. I honestly have a feeling that, like Abnegation, there are very few in Amity that actually fail Initiation, as they seem to be the most accepting; so long as you aren't Candor, anyways.

What do you think about each Faction and their "traits"? What do you think really happens in each Initiation? Come share your thoughts with us! Until tomorrow, keep on theorizing!