Divergent Thinking

OTHER YOUNG ADULT TITLES
FROM SMART POP BOOKS

Demigods and Monsters

Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Ender's World

Fresh Perspectives on the SF Classic Ender's Game

Flirtin' with the Monster

Your Favorite Authors on Ellen Hopkins' Crank and Glass

The Girl Who Was on Fire

Your Favorite Authors on Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games Trilogy

Mind-Rain

Your Favorite Authors on Scott Westerfeld's Uglies Series

A New Dawn

Your Favorite Authors on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series

Nyx in the House of Night

Mythology, Folklore, and Religion in the P.C. and Kristin Cast Vampyre Series

The Panem Companion

An Unofficial Guide to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games, From Mellark Bakery to Mockingjays

Shadowhunters and Downworlders

A Mortal Instruments Reader

Through the Wardrobe

Your Favorite Authors on C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia

DIVERGENT
THINKING

DIVERGENT
THINKING

YA AUTHORS ON VERONICA ROTH'S
DIVERGENT TRILOGY

EDITED BY LEAH WILSON

THIS PUBLICATION IS UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORIZED. IT HAS NOT BEEN PREPARED, APPROVED, AUTHORIZED, LICENSED, OR ENDORSED BY ANY ENTITY THAT CREATED OR PRODUCED THE WELL-KNOWN DIVERGENT BOOK OR FILM SERIES.

© 2014 BenBella Books, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Smart Pop is an imprint of BenBella Books, Inc.
10300 N. Central Expressway, Suite 530 | Dallas, TX 75231
www.benbellabooks.com
|
www.smartpopbooks.com
Send feedback to
[email protected]

First e-book edition: March 2014

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Divergent Thinking : YA Authors on Veronica Roth's Divergent Trilogy / edited by Leah Wilson.

pages cm

ISBN 978-1-939529-92-3 (paperback) — ISBN 978-1-940363-34-9 (electronic) 1. Roth, Veronica. Divergent series. 2. Young adult fiction, American—History and criticism. I. Wilson, Leah, editor of compilation.

PS3618.O8633Z58 2014

813'.6—dc23
                                  
2013049188

Copyediting by Brittany Dowdle, Word Cat Editorial Services
Proofreading by Jenny Bridges and Michael Fedison
Text design and composition by Silver Feather Design
Printed by Bang Printing

Distributed by Perseus Distribution |
www.perseusdistribution.com
To place orders through Perseus Distribution:
Tel: (800) 343-4499 | Fax: (800) 351-5073
E-mail:
[email protected]

Significant discounts for bulk sales are available. Please contact Glenn Yeffeth at
[email protected]
or (214) 750-3628.

COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

“From Factions to Fire Signs” © 2014 by Rosemary Clement-Moore

“Divergent Psychology” © 2014 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

“Mapping Divergent's Chicago” © 2014 by V. Arrow

“Choices Can Be Made Again” © 2014 by Maria V. Snyder and Jenna Snyder

“Ordinary Acts of Bravery” © 2014 by Elizabeth Norris

“Fear and the Dauntless Girl” © 2014 by Blythe Woolston

“They Injure Each Other in the Same Way” © 2014 by Mary Borsellino

“Secrets and Lies” © 2014 by Debra Driza

“Bureau versus Rebels: Which Is Worse?” © 2014 by Dan Krokos

“Factions: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” © 2014 by Julia Karr

“The Downfall of Dauntless” © 2014 by Janine K. Spendlove

“Emergent” © 2014 by Elizabeth Gatland

Images © 2014 by Risa Rodil,
RisaRodil.com

Faction and Chicago location icons © 2014 by Risa Rodil,
RisaRodil.com

Water Tower Place photograph courtesy Jrissman,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WaterTowerPlaceMall.JPG

Harold Washington Library photograph courtesy Beyond My Ken,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harold_Washington_Library_southwest_owl.jpg

Flamingo photograph courtesy Richie Diesterheft,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/puroticorico/

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

FROM FACTIONS TO FIRE SIGNS

Rosemary Clement-Moore

DIVERGENT PSYCHOLOGY

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

MAPPING DIVERGENT'S CHICAGO

V. Arrow

CHOICES CAN BE MADE AGAIN

Maria V. Snyder and Jenna Snyder

ORDINARY ACTS OF BRAVERY

Elizabeth Norris

FEAR AND THE DAUNTLESS GIRL

Blythe Woolston

THEY INJURE EACH OTHER IN THE SAME WAY

Mary Borsellino

SECRETS AND LIES

Debra Driza

BUREAU VERSUS REBELS: WHICH IS WORSE?

Dan Krokos

FACTIONS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Julia Karr

THE DOWNFALL OF DAUNTLESS

Janine K. Spendlove

EMERGENT

Elizabeth Wein

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE EDITOR

A lot of people have called the Divergent trilogy “the next Hunger Games.” It's a fair comparison in some ways: they're both science-fiction dystopias with prickly, complex heroines. They've both left millions of readers thinking about them long after reading their final pages (even if—or maybe in part because—their endings were a little controversial). And, like many other dystopias, they both wrestle with the idea of control and how we resist it.

But where the Hunger Games engages with control on a societal level, the Divergent trilogy is more focused on the personal. Where the Hunger Games tells a story about rebellion and social change as much as it does about its protagonist's efforts to subvert others' use of her, Divergent is interested in a different kind of freedom—from exploitation, yes, but also from the labels society puts on us and the subtle pressures of others' expectations. From our individual fears and from our personal histories. These things may shape us, the Divergent trilogy says, but they do not control us.

Allegiant
introduces us to two different, though interrelated, agents of control. First, there's the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, the organization that designed Tris' city hundreds of years ago as an experiment, constantly monitors its goings-on, and steps in (either directly, by wiping memories, or American imperialist–style, by supplying weapons to the side they like best) whenever that experiment's integrity is threatened. Second, there's genetic damage, which—the Bureau claims—controls one's nature so thoroughly that the kindest thing to do for a GD is take away her identity and sequester her in a community where she can be more effectively controlled. (After all, look at the way they live outside those communities, in the fringe!)

At first,
Allegiant'
s focus on the Bureau and genetics makes the book feel like a strange departure from the earlier parts of Tris' story. But it eventually becomes clear that this new world, the one outside the city, is just another version of the one we came to know in
Divergent
and
Insurgent,
that microcosm writ large—a more familiar mirror, a world one step closer to our own, in which the trilogy's earlier themes are reflected. We've seen the unfeeling, arrogant scientists before, in Jeanine and the Erudite, who use their serums and superior knowledge to manipulate and control (in the case of the Dauntless, quite literally). We've seen, in the factions, the idea that there is something innate that determines the course of your life—an inborn quality you can test for, that tells you who you should associate with and what jobs you can do.

In both worlds, Tris proves herself to be a hero. And in both worlds, she does so in a way that shows that heroism is a choice you make, not something you're born with.

In the context of the trilogy's first two books, Tris is our hero because she is Divergent—because she is aware during simulations, but even more important, because she cannot be contained by any one of her city's labels . . . even if she must pretend to be. Her Divergence puts her in danger, but it also means she has a choice: both at the Choosing Ceremony and in every moment after.

The thing is, though,
everyone
in her city has a choice—at least in theory. That's why it's called a
Choosing
Ceremony. Caught between the desire to choose Dauntless and the expectation she will choose Abnegation, Tris defies her upbringing and chooses to be brave. But every one of her fellow sixteen-year-olds has the option to choose as well, not according to social pressure and not according to their test results, but according to their own values—according to who they
want
to be rather than who their family and history has made them. We know Tris' father made his choice this way when he left Erudite for Abnegation. It could be argued Tobias does, too, despite his claim to have chosen Dauntless out of cowardice. Neither of them is Divergent. (Nor are the other transfers in Tris' Dauntless initiate class, for that matter.) And both are successful as transfers. Tobias finishes first in his initiate class; Tris' father is a well-regarded councilman. Their successes are just two of many, many examples in the Divergent trilogy that, even if they are “genetically damaged,” human beings have the ability to learn and to grow. Ultimately,
we
are the ones in control of what and who we become.