Divergent is marketed as a Dystopia, but it seems to miss the fundamental part of dystopian literature, which is commentating on an aspect of society that could lead to it’s downfall. It’s supposed to be relevant to our current world to some extent. In The Handmaid’s Tale, misogyny/the dehumanization of women is talked about. In Hunger Games, it’s about our society’s love for violence and war/how easy it is to dehumanize people, which is relevant to today’s society. In 1984 it’s a lack of individual thought. What exactly is Divergent’s overarching message? How did we get to this world in which people are divided into 4 groups based on one personality trait?

Idk the series should’ve been marketed as maybe a fantasy or action but even then it misses the mark. It just seems very shallow. Like the characters are not well thought out at all, not even Tris and Tobias who are supposed to be since they’re divergent. The writing also isn’t great, it honestly just seems like the series was just a cash grab because YA dystopian literature was popular at the time

  • stirfriedquinoa@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    The best thing about Divergent was that >!the main character died at the end!<, which was a pretty bold move imo

    • fader-mainer@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Yeah I actually respect the author for pulling that move, but then again she had to differentiate it between the 100 other dystopia YA hunger games knockoffs at the time

      • Rosuvastatine@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I read the first book and rated it 2⭐️. THG is my favorite series.

        I dont see the parallèle with THG yall always make. Except for the fact the MC is a teen girl…

        • fader-mainer@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          It’s because Divergent was the SECOND biggest YA Dystopia franchise at the time, which is why they’re compared so often. The difference in quality is staggering.

          • Rosuvastatine@alien.topBEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Ok but i still dont really understand how Divergent is a HG knock off… Is it bad ? Yes. But they have nothing in common except being the same genre i guess

            Thats like saying Percy Jackson is a HP knock off because both are fantasy with boy MC

            • fader-mainer@alien.topBEnglish
              1·
              1 year ago

              That’s the point I’m making- there were SO MANY dystopia genre YA books at the time that were riding off the wave that Hunger Games started, which is why it invites all the comparisons. Around a year after Mockingjay finished, Divergent was published and readers swarmed to it because it was the next biggest franchise in the genre.