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With the new movie Mockingjay Part 1 coming to theaters, we cannot forget the other up-and-coming heroine who had a movie released recently. The Divergent series by Veronica Roth features a heroine named Beatrice Prior who lives in a world that many readers have related to the Hunger Games series. Instead of being born in and living in districts, however, society lives in factions. People are born into a faction, but when they become young adults they can change factions. Just like Katniss, Beatrice is another heroine who breaks norms within her story.
Beatrice admits at the beginning of the novel that she feels like she does not belong in the faction she lives in. She explains that she will be able to choose to live in another faction soon, but if she leaves her faction she also leaves behind her family forever. She has to decide whether to stay and try to fit in with her faction or follow who she truly is and change factions.
Spoiler alert, she changes factions and the new faction she lives in is the complete opposite of her old faction. Once she is in her new faction, she realizes that there will be many battles that she will have to face including the realization that she does not fit into one faction.
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Beatrice changes her name to Tris when she enters her new faction and she has to strip away the old part of her to fit into her new faction. She battles with herself as she tries to fit into the norms of her new faction. She manages to find a balance between satisfying her new faction while retaining the part of her that does not fit into any specific faction.
Once Tris realizes that she will never be able to conform completely to one faction, she becomes endangered because she cannot be controlled by those in power. She has to hide the fact that she cannot conform, and along the way finds herself in many mental and emotional battles. Tris does find other characters in the novel who are like her and cannot conform. She realizes that she wants to be accepted for who she is. Her self-esteem and rebellious attitude against conformity is something that we look for in a heroine.
Not only is Tris rebellious, she is also brave and will do what it takes to protect those she cares about. Throughout the novel, and the rest of the series, we watch as Tris faces each new challenge and danger. She is fearful but her bravery overcomes her fear in every situation. Tris sometimes leans on her male counterpart, Four, for support but he relies on her just as much. The two of them work together to accomplish many things throughout the series. She is a typical heroine that many readers look for and this novel is worth the read.
– Jessica Jordan, Managing Editor
