The
novel Divergent, by Veronica Roth, should be a must read book. Divergent is a
must read because the book shows how to make difficult decisions, tells readers
to face their fears and forces the reader to think what they would do in the
situations of the book.
In
Divergent, readers are forced to
think what they would do in times were life decision need to be made by
comparing themselves to Tris, the main character, in Divergent. Tris is sixteen
so it is time decide her fate of whether to be Abnegation, Dauntless or Candor
for the rest of her life. Normally the sixteen year olds are told which faction
best suits them but Tris is Divergent so she must make the decision on her own.
As Tris makes the decision thoughts are racing through her mind, “Then with a
gasp I cannot contain I shift my hand forward and my blood sizzles on the
coals. I am selfish. I am brave” (Roth 47). Even as
Tris walks to decide her fate she still does not truly know what faction she
will choose hence the “gasp.” Before this moment Tris was not sure but in an
instant she has convinced herself that she is both “selfish” and “brave” so she
chooses dauntless. Roth uses this word choice to show how in such a little time
a life decision can be made, but also how important those decisions can be.
Tris does not turn away form this decision. Roth uses this moment to explain
her views on how to make and believe in decisions readers make in life.
Everyday everyone makes a decision in their life, most are not to important but
they all shape who they are as people. Some decisions can catch people by
surprise and they do not know they are making them until they already have.
Tris has this experience and “cannot contain” or believe the decision she has
just made. But she still believes this in saying “I am selfish. I am brave.”
Roth wants readers to think what they would do in this situation in order to
prepare them for life. Above this Roth wants us to accept our decisions for
what they are and not to hide from them. Since readers think about what their
life decision could be and how they would decide them Divergent is a must read for this reason.
I agree that this book should be a must read book. This book shows how the choices made effect everyone. In particular, switching factions makes a big impact on their society because it happens so rarely. These choices have consequences and while people may not realize what they are doing, their choices can have drastic impacts. Either good or bad, a choice was made, and Tris does not regret her choices. I admire her bravery which is why I think this should be a must read book.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that there are many positive aspects of the book that should allow it to be read (as you all mentioned above), there are still many negative parts of the book. There is the inclusion of sexual content and mass genocide which obscures the moral views of the reader. This is done by causing some readers to focus more on those actions than on the general message of the story. In that case though, it is more the reader's thought process that lends it to a must-read or a challenged book. For high-schoolers that have the ability to look past the immoral parts of the book and to see the overall message of the story (which hopefully is most of us), it should be a must-read. For people that read almost explicitly for enjoyment and not for knowledge and messages of life, I feel that the book should be challenged because those readers would only be able to focus on the simple, immoral parts of the story. Of course, the book can't be both challenged and must-read, so I would have to decide for the book to be challenged, and that it should be argued if enough people would obtain the message of the book to make it a must-read,
DeleteI agree that Divergent is a must read book. Divergent compels the readers to think for themselves and ask themselves the question "which factions would i choose?" This book helps students prepare for life because it challenges them to think and choose for themselves, just as Tris chose to be selfish and brave. Although this book hold some controversial topics, the moral value exceeds those topics.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this should be a must read book. Making difficult decisions can be easily related to a person in high-school. The difficult decision could be like choosing a college you want to go to or something that you would like to major in. Decisions like that need a lot of thought towards them, because the final decision you make could effect certain people in many different ways. This book would make us think about major decisions that could effect our future. I think this is a must read because it helps us learn about certain subjects.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points in saying Divergent is a must read book because it allows readers to see many difficult decisions being made under pressure and how these decisions have consequences. Also, this books is very relatable to our modern day lives as we do have to make many difficult decisions about our future. However, we probably do not have the same life or death situation we see Tris in repeatedly. Further more, this book allows readers to see life from a different angle in a way that is very relatable to our own and contains many small pieces of knowledge that can benefit us in our daily lives.
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